Boston Fashion Week 2014: Copley Catwalk Series

          The mall at Copley Place held a catwalk series during Boston Fashion Week to showcase local designers. Unlike most fashion week events, it was open to the public on a first come, first serve basis, generating a long line of college students and fashion enthusiasts eager to get a taste of the fashion scene.

A look from Eileen Fisher's collection.

          The show I attended on October 6th featured a collection from Eileen Fisher, followed by an awe-inducing showcase by students of the School of Fashion Design. Fisher's looks were cool and casual - denim, tees, a couple cozy sweaters and winter coats, clothing you can find in most retail stores. But the real spectacle was the student work. The audience actually murmured "Ooo" and "Aaah" upon seeing these couture pieces.

           Among the student designers were Khatu Ho Wong, Yue Wu, Lindsay Calderon, Patricia Coombs, Ali Bianchi, Ty Sinnett, Mamatha Kothiwale, Sangya Acharya, Chynna Pope and Ada Uzuegbo. All ten artists proved their talent with evening gowns and cocktail dresses, dripping in elegance, detail and quality fabrics. Some like Wong and Calderon made striking pieces through structure and color-blocking. Others like Sinnet and Pope used draping for drama and romanticism.

White coat and full skirt by Khatu Ho Wong

Cropped black & white jacket with black mini skirt by Yue Wu

Red and black romper by Lindsay Calderon

Purple poof mini dress by Yue Wu

Cranberry and navy dress with belt detail by Lindsay Calderon

Black lace top with ivory skirt by Ali Bianchi

Beaded copper and black strapless dress by Ali Bianchi

Silver evening gown with blue lace sleeves by Lindsay Calderon

Dark crimson gown with full skirt by Ty Sinnett

Dark crimson gown with full skirt by Ty Sinnett

Blue lace evening gown by Mamatha Kothiwale

Gold baby doll dress by Sangya Acharya

Pink lace strapless with tutu skirt by Khatu Ho Wong

Pink lace strapless with tutu skirt by Khatu Ho Wong

Black gown with white ruffle by Khatu Ho Wong

Dark grey gown with silver beaded bodice by Chynna Pope

Dark grey gown with silver beaded bodice by Chynna Pope

Black beaded gown with white insets by Ada Uzuegbo

Wedding dress by Chynna Pope

* As a journalist, it is my priority to deliver accurate and unbiased information. When I do express my own opinions, it is my obligation to explain my exact observations and be true to my stylistic taste and views. I will not give a designer a good review to be in their favor, nor will I abstain from giving a designer a bad review to avoid their disapproval.

Boston Fashion Week's Emerging Trends: Lisa Loveday

         The woman behind Lisa Loveday’s second collection is a survivor. “She’s clothed in the wreckage,” she said of her grunge-meets-modern-art designs. “She’s someone who’s not quite human, trying to become human. But I think in the end she just ends up being herself,” she said. The prosthetic pieces on the clothes  represent blood, guts, and burnt debris.

          An array of worn and processed materials are handmade elements. Loveday shredded, bleached, knit, and weaved most of her fabrics. She used cotton twill, acrylic, and wool, as well as some recycled fabrics. One of her pieces is made from recycled silk. “It’s really a one of a kind because it doesn’t exist anymore,” she said.

          She also used chunky, hardware to contrast the fragile layers of material. “I needed something that was really strong because it’s basically holding the whole piece up,” she said about one of her torn dresses.

          Surely, Loveday’s designs are not for the everyday wearer. “You can’t really adapt it into an everyday fashion,” she said. And she is fully aware of the bold statements they make. “I don’t want to compromise my work.” She envisions her clothes on the red carpet or as performance pieces. “Ideally, if Bjork would want one of my pieces I would be more than happy to make one for her!” she said.

         Loveday is a fresh face in the industry. “I’ve had my own studio for about a year...so I’m still fairly new,” she said. She recently graduated with honors in fashion arts at Seneca College in Toronto. While in school, she won an award at the Hempel International Awards in China. “I’m still not up and running completely at this point, so I don’t have anything for sale or wholesale. I just do custom work,” she said. For now, she isn’t certain of her next step in her career. “I have something sort of in mind, it’s more really strong pieces,” she said. “Everything I do is kind of big. It makes some big statements!” 

To see more of Lisa Loveday's work go to her Facebook page.

Boston Fashion Week's Emerging Trends: Naomi Davidoff

           The next designer I met at BFW’s Emerging Trends press day was a young designer, who is launching her company to success, only months after graduation. Naomi Davidoff is a costume designer who has a way with fabrics and technique. She studied fiber with a concentration in experimental fashion at the Maryland Institute College of Art.

Juggler - photo credit: Ron Davidoff

          Davidoff creates couture garments for performances and special events. “I am not only interested in fashion, but also wearable art, costume, and blurring the lines between the two and working with a lot of performers, dancers, circus artists, musicians, theater people, and actors,” she said.  

Madeline - photo credit: Ron Davidoff

          Part of her love for costume design is because of the people she works with. “They’re really half of what makes my work really special, I think, is working with them,” she said. She loves bringing her clients’ ideas to life. “That kind of leads me to want to work with different people and to want to make clothes for them and get inside their heads and think about who they are as personas and characters,” she said.

Siamese Twins - photo credit: Ron Davidoff

          Her most recent project is costume director for the Baltimore Rock Opera Society back home in Maryland. “We are a volunteer organization that’s a community theater and we are dedicated to making the most innovative, original, crazy rock opera you could ever imagine,” she said. For their last show, Murder Castle, the costumes were inspired by the Victorian era and The Chicago Worlds Fair. “They were experimenting with electricity and people putting that into garments,” she said. So she created glowing ballgowns with LEDs in the hoop skirts.

Mermaid - photo credit: Ron Davidoff

          Her collection this year, called “Phantasma,” is inspired by “surrealism, freakery and circus arts, and living nightmares.” She took a special interest in making a lot of the textiles in this collection. “So not only am I using found fabrics, I’m also using hand dyed, hand screen printed, over dyed, resisted fabrics, shibories, so experimenting with all different techniques,” she said.

Check out her SS13 collection video below!

Phantasma from Naomi Davidoff on Vimeo.

To see more about Davidoff and her collections, visit her website at www.naomidavidoff.com.

Boston Fashion Week's Emerging Trends: Thaddeus Du Bois

          One of the last events during Boston Fashion Week was the Emerging Trends fashion show. The day before the show, I attended the press event at Cyclorama - Boston Center for the Arts so I could meet some of the designers who would be showcasing their pieces.

          Thaddeus Du Bois’ handbags immediately intrigued me. His table was set up at the back wall of the room, yet his intricate metalwork stood out among the racks of clothes next to him. One bag, a saddlebag style with twisted tentacles emerging underneath it, hung from a metal stand as if it belonged in a gallery. I could tell right away that these handbags are intended for more than just their utilitarian purpose.

Narcosis w/stand - $32,900

          “I view them as sculpture. I love the idea that they can be sculpture at home that you don’t put them away in a closet, then when you take them off their stand and carry them out...they change in context and content everywhere you go,” Du Bois said. Narcosis, the aforementioned saddlebag, is one of his couture pieces. Priced at $32,900, it is also the most expensive piece in his collection. “Narcosis is one of my couture pieces where there’s only one and there’s only ever going to be one,” he said.

Miss Adventure w/stand - $4,200

          Another showstopper in his collection is his Emy Clutch.  “It’s all about glitz and glamour,” said Du Bois. Made with mirror polished aluminum, white deer skin, and 23 Swarovsky crystals, it’s designed for a walk down the red carpet. “The paparazzi snapping all their photos with the flashes, with the mirror polished aluminum, it’s going to reflect all those flashes and I really think it’s going to look like a ball of light in your hand, which I think is so cool. But it’s also going to ruin some of those photographs because the flash is going to reflect,” he said. With such a reflective surface, it also doubles as a mirror for touching up makeup throughout the night. “So [there’s] no reason to leave the party, and it’s definitely going to attract some attention,” he said.

Emy Clutch w/carrying trunk - $4,200

“It’s never in another country and I really want to stick to that. As I grow my line I really want to keep it all US made and US sourced.”

 

          My personal favorite of his collection is the Elson Bag, a rugged, versatile piece he made at the request of his art friend in Alaska. “She’s the type of girl [who] wears a flower dress and combat boots and she rides a motorcycle. She paints,” he said. So he created a bag that fit her lifestyle. It was big enough to fit her sketchbook, had a pocket for her pencils, an outside pocket for her cell phone, another pocket inside, and a flap closure. To be extra secure, he also added a zipper closure so nothing could fall out of the flap. As if these didn’t make the bag functional enough, he created straps that can transition from a shoulder strap, to cross-body, to backpack. “She loves it. It fits her personality so perfect,” he said.

Elson Bag - $3,200

          With all of his thought into what a woman wants, it would seem as if Du Bois has been designing handbags his whole career. However, he happened upon them in an unexpected way. In 2005, he was working as a suit salesman at Nordstrom and would see women buying handbags across the aisle. He thought they were ridiculous for buying the same bags until one woman told him, “Look at them as sculptures. It’s about the hardware.” And everything clicked. “At that point there was a spark for real in my head and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, handbags are the coolest thing ever!’” he said.

Romano Bag - $3,800

          For now, Du Bois makes his pieces himself, by hand. “So I’m in my studio with a torch and a welder and making it,” he said. He gets all of his materials within the US. “The leather is all sourced in the US. The hide comes from a tannery so it’s US cows that are tanned in Tennessee,” he said. As he expands his line and hires others to help, he intends to maintain this standard. “It’s never in another country and I really want to stick to that. As I grow my line I really want to keep it all US made and US sourced,” he said.

Ella - a purse he made for his wife to take to church

          However, he doesn’t want to grow too fast. He would rather keep production levels low to keep the couture, luxury, and personal elements of his brand. “If I can keep the production 300 or even well under, then I think that’s going to hit the market that I want to keep it exclusive,” he said. He values connecting with each customer over becoming a household brand and enjoys talking to the people who will be owning his bags. “I know they’re going to pass it on to their children or someone else is going to get it and it’s going to have the story that goes behind it,” he said.

To view and purchase Du Bois’ handbags and sculptures, visit thaddeusdubois.com.