Austin360 blogs > Out & About > Archives > 2009 > November > 08 > Entry
Runway to Heaven at the Austonian
Erin Weitzel, Mallory Farr and Kelly Hansard
When the time came, the Runway to Heaven charity fashion show at the Austonian turned out just fine for the average viewer …
Cassandra Graza and Nadia Bening
Instead of landing on one of those upper floors with out-of-body views, Runway was held in the unfinished ground-floor space, where the Ballet Fete after-party frolicked …
Francie and Trent Thurman
That worked out well, because any space upstairs would have involved obstructed views, and this vast, open hall fit the look and scale of the show …
James and Ronit Mele
The seating area was subdivided into so many VIP and VVIP districts, it was easy to get confused, and, for the first time, I witnessed some squabbling about relative proximity to the long, segmented stage …
Robert Turluck and Jamie Stewart
But the seating came after the lengthy entry line and the somewhat disorganized shepherding of guests to their appropriate districts (I encountered no problems because I like to stand in the back) …
Ronda Gray and Kimberly Thomsen
A large subset of the guests were there to cheer the winners of the Glossy 8 Stylemaker Awards, who were presented for a second time this week — four of them also served as celebrity models …
Jim Duran (mystyle-austin) and Anne Elizabeth Wynn
As with the earlier Glossy 8 VIP Party on Stratford Drive, this event was brightened by Dripping Springs Vodka drinkies and outstanding sushi from Piranha, the Arlington-based restaurant group which has planted a colony over by the Austin Convention Center …
Renee Sobremonte and Anju Garg
Austin Children’s Shelter and Children’s Medical Center Foundation of Central Texas were the chosen charities this year, probably receiving more attention than hard cash, but we’ll quiz leaders for net takes …
Nikki Fowler and Ryan Tumey
Superwoman Sue Webber volunteered to whip the runway show into shape at the last minute, and her firm hand was readily evident once the models began to strut …
Huey Nguyen and Mai Lu
Regular readers of this blog know better than to expect a fashion review from this social columnist, but my eyes weren’t glued shut …
Laura Villagran and Kevin Smothers
UT student Alexandra King’s loose, fun creations looked promising, while Linda Asaf’s more mature work, crowned by a timely wedding gown, were suitably flattering …
Brian McKinely and Anita Benner
Of course, I was most interested in the menswear, and Versace’s unstructured jackets snapped me to attention a few times. Yet the standouts were the sophisticated, plastic inventions of Poleci, whose urban wear triumphed at the end of the show …
My-Cherie Haley, Rochelle Rae and Laura Labay
And truly, if you didn’t know in advance all the beforehand and behind-the-scenes angst and misdirection, you could never tell that anything was wrong …
One last note: This runway show thing is getting a little out of hand. Austinites still flock to them, but can we really sustain reasonable standards when they are staged at least once a week here? Just a thought.
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By Zinger
November 9, 2009 9:36 PM | Link to this
Michael, Your faint praise does not do the show justice. I thought the whole event was wonderful and did more than meet everyone's expectations. Everyone behind the scenes worked hard for months to make this the best show of the year and to raise thousands for charity. I just think you could have done a little better to get all of the facts correct and showed a little more graciousness.