Austin360 blogs > Out & About > Archives > 2010 > August > 22 > Entry
Austin Fashion Awards and After-Party at the Long Center
Youth is for the young. Also for Austin Fashion Week.
Pam Ivy Kim, Tae Tesoriero and Misty Mittelstedt
At 21 parties over the course of eight days and nights, youth held sway. At runway shows, boutique parties, club gigs and more formal ceremonies, the average age barely topped 30. Those who could actually pay retail for haute couture remained a bizarre minority.
Rachelle Briton, Lisa Matulis and Shannon Yarbrough
Which is very Austin. Flocking to the second edition of summer events organized by Launch787 were models, designers, retailers, media and party planners. In other words, the chronically underpaid creative class, little different from the musicians, artists, food hawkers and others who have stamped this city with their brash identities.
Kristin Nicolaisen, Zayra and Betsy Hudson
Only the stylish sort dresses a little better. And, except for cases of unsettling thinness, they look a tad healthier.
Avery Dunn and Brad Swail
There’s some notion that fashion, among the last of the glamor fields to blossom in Austin, historically speaking, is an invasive species. Ideal for upscale, urban settings like New York or Los Angeles, or for pretenders like Dallas, or international cultural mash-ups like Miami, but not for Austin. Dear, dear funky Austin.
Kadynce Akaye and Amber Stuhldreher
Those who say so have not been paying attention. Trend-spotters have been scouting Austin and its independent style for decades. Now those trends have coalesced into identifiable scenes, only attracting notice of the general population during Fashion Week and Style Week, or on Second Street and at the Domain, or up and down three stylish South Austin strands (Congress, First, Lamar). Or pockets elsewhere.
Chad Garven and Casey Branson
It remains a young person’s sport. One of the key parties of the week was held in the darkened womb of ND at the 501 Studios in East Austin. Staged by Dean Fredrick, the jewelry designer who won the top critic’s honor at the Austin Fashion Awards on Saturday, the club-like space turned into hipster heaven, with of-the-moments acts like the Soldier Thread and Quiet Company playing for a suitably inked and mellowed clan of many hues.
Alex Young and Mia Foos
Another highlight of the week was the Hair Affair runway show for the charity Locks of Love at the Phoenix. Inspired by the French ancien regime, this imaginative frolic combined high hair and wigs with assertive downtown fashions. It screamed “youth” even more so than other memorable Fashion Week events, taking their thematic cues from Bollywood, jet setters and boudoirs.
Priscilla King and Thomas Christiansen
The Fashion Awards were leavened by wickedly funny cabaret artist Mandy Lauderdale, whose baby-blue act proved perfect for the occasion and the crowd. Lauderdale’s onstage persona, which includes various alter-egos, gave the occasion, much tighter than last year’s ceremonies, a winking maturity, as if suggesting: “OK guys and girls, have fun, but there’s more to the world than meets a twentysomething’s eye …”
Jennifer Reyna and Kelly Wall
Inevitably one must ask: Who is paying for all this? Surely not the starving creative class, which, in Austin, includes many of the seemingly high-end retailers in their pristine boutiques. (Just ask about their rents.) Fashion reporter Marques Harper has posed the crucial questions about what holds Fashion Week aloft, and what will do so in the future: Fees or sponsorships; ticket prices or donations?
In terms of social development, the city’s fashion scene is decades behind music, movies, arts, media, food, business and charity, much less the ancestral Austin triumvirate of politics, education and sports. But much like its coevals — the fledgling nightlife and interactive communities — fashion is here to stay. And it will make its distinctive mark on this city we love.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment Categories: Style
Comments
Austinites love to be heard, and we're giving you a bullhorn. We just ask that you keep things civil. Leave out the personal attacks. Do not use profanity, ethnic or racial slurs, or take shots at anyone's sexual orientation or religion. If you can't be nice, we reserve the right to remove your material and ban users who violate our Visitor's agreement. Click here to report comment abuse.
By Sumaiya Malik
August 22, 2010 1:13 PM | Link to this
The award ceremony was advertised as appropriate for all ages. Since my daughter and I enjoy fashion and are regulars at fashion shows at the Domain and Saks, we bought tickets and went to the awards. It surely was NOT for all ages and we decided to leave.
I wish them the best and will continue my shopping rounds. However, I would like that they are clear about the ratings. As part of the public who pays for the shows, I feel cheated.