If politics and local fashion have anything in common, it’s the Hilton Downtown Tampa. That’s where President Obama slept last week before his visit to MacDill, and it’s where Tampa Bay Fashion Week took center stage the following night.
If Tuesday was marked by a heightened level of security at the hotel, Wednesday night’s runway show was preceded by a heightened level of anticipation. A new crop of designers showed their collections, including Desiree Marie Design; Kalaxpress by Sumita Bhojwani, which walked like a celebration, complete with vivid hues and a pretty floral print; and Arkansas’ Chavon Shree, who presented one of my favorite looks of the night. As if the shape of the pants and the perfect purple-and-yellow color combination weren’t enough, those WONDERFUL pockets showed up! (I’m saying this in my best Diana Vreeland.)
Elizabeth Carson Racker returned this year with a pastel collection that included a fabulous Egyptian number. Alexandra Lin, who presented her first collection since graduating IADT, sent a black-and-white Burberry-esque print down the runway in a few different fashionable ways. (I liked the guys’ moto jacket with zipper sleeves best.) Rhonda Shear was beaming as she presented her Spring/Summer 2015 collection and as she watched her friends Crystal Hefner (sans Hef) and Kato Kaelin do the same. Orlando designer Lorena Knezevic of Lolodaisy by Lorena (who used to walk FWTB as a runway model) returned to show a collection of her own for the second year in a row.
But the evening’s major revelation was the work of four students from Sanford-Brown College (formerly IADT), each of whom presented a mini-collection. Ever since, I’ve been hearing the voice of Whitney Houston in my head, belting out, “I believe the children are our future.”
While these students aren’t quite “children,” their imaginative points of view inspire hope for the future of local fashion.
Let’s take a look…
Even in black, Laura Hoyos’ formal “Midnight Masquerade” presentation lit up the runway with plenty of well-placed gold glittering among interesting layers of varying textures (including a touch of fringe).
Katarzyna Zuzak was responsible for my only “Wow!” moment of the night when a model wearing a hood turned to reveal the open back of a look from Zuzak’s fashion-forward “Dreamy Tears” collection.
We were all seeing red as Maria-Christina “Christie” Logdeser’s “Crimson Woods” collection appeared, but my eye was fixed on the black motorcycle jacket she paired with a slinky, asymmetrical dress.
