San Francisco Fashion Week - Day 1 - 3 Runway Round-Up

What a fun weekend it has been! I might warn you that the following post will have dresses and frills with them (gasp!). It was not completely menswear. But I told myself I love fashion and I can totally apply what I know in terms of construction and such to women's wear. Overall, the first two days was pretty good, there were a lot of great designs and there were misses as well. The funny thing about being able to travel and see a number of fashion shows in different cities for a time now, was probably craftsmanship and finishing. Sitting on front row you can see every loose hem, every popping seams and small stains as well. Eventhough I love, love my San Francisco community I can never compare it to the caliber of New York. Let's put it this way if SFFW was a gun, it would be a shotgun while NYFW would be a cannon. Regardless, San Francisco is my home and I will support my community no matter what. SFFAMA did a wonderful job with the production, Kudos to Owen Geronimo and thank you for being accommodating and placing me in great front row seats all three days (to enjoy the show and the company as well). Now on with the show!

Friday, August 12, 2011

Emerging Talent

Primajiva

A very bohemian, very relaxed collection. There were two or three men's look but I didn't really care for them unfortunately. The hooded top on the women, on the other hand, looked great. Next.

Carole Wang

If you love jersey of every kind, then you'd love this collection. Very interesting cut outs on the fabric but I don't know. Something was missing from this collection, Oh right, the designer.

Avni Trivedi/Avni Fashions

Great texture and prints on this collection which I loved but as many new designer's collection I thought It lacked direction. I was a little confused because I can see some of the looks sorta would make a collection but then there were pieces, no matter how nice of a craftsmanship, didn't really belong to the majority. This turned out to be just a show with pieces and not a collection.

Amanda Everest/Lucky Lu Clothing

This was a very cutesy show. A lot of hoop skirts and dresses that your grandma used to wear when she was young. The fabrics chosen tend to be borderline picnic blanket. The collection, aside from the fabric color choice was very reminiscent to Louis Vuitton's 50's housewife collection that came out a year back. 

Jeniffer Ly

With my love of accessories, this by far was my favorite collection of the night. The designs were very luxurious looking compared to the others and varying silhouettes made the show interesting and Jennifer delivered. AND the accessories was a great touch. But I have to say one thing though there was one look with the black cut-shorts, It didn't really fit well unfortunately and was kind of distracting. Other than that? Brava!

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Pret-A-Porter

Boditecture/Wen Guo

Way to go open the night, Wen! You've heard about these two in one dresses, well if you're one of those girls that love these type of stuff you're in luck the transformation between the two looks was very dramatic. My pictures could only tell so much. One thing that I loved that unfortunately didn't come out right(the picture was blurry), was the ruffle dress that became a long train. Awesome.

Mikelsen

The fabric choices of the designer were great. I loved the black satin print dress. I could have loved the color blocking for the one with the white/leopard print side but I didn't like the ribbon belt at all. And the micro mini dress with the front zipper came in different fabrics, colors, and sleeve options, were back in the 70s!

Victor's Promise

Not a whole lot of design but plenty of eye candy for the women (and some men). 

ChuiChui/Tracy Wong

Now earlier i was talking about cohesiveness of the collection. Now this collection had point of view. It looked like the designer had a 'girl' and all of these dresses would be in her closet. I love the drama and how provocative the collection was. Just probably needs a little polishing with the presentation.

Alphyn Industries

I personally don't get this collection. It seems that, to my humble opinion,  very useful type of pants but it sorta got lost in translation. This line has a potential to be big with the techies but other than that, The pants fit the models beautifully, I would give them that.

Alyssa Nicole

I love the texture of the black dress, I think its called ruching, and the long dress variant was pretty. The color story of the collection eventhough a little dark was great. It has a perfect balance of technique vs. texture.

Sunday, August 14, 2011
Avante Garde/'Couture'


Violetta Vieux

Here comes the bride! These gowns were pretty nice and the details on them were beautiful. The thing I don't get though is why did she choose to close the show with a blah number.

Ken Chen/Vayaro (bags)

 The suits were stylish and of european cut. The women's pieces were sharp as the men's peices and very modern with a rock and roll appeal to them. I love the business on the front/party on the back blazer jacket. It was a nice surprise.

Aya Yoruha & Diane O

The collection was pretty much a representation of the harajuku culture of Japan. Interesting cuts and designs but the fabric choice was a little questionable. I think I'm watching too many high end fashion shows. . . It sorta looked inexpensive, The finale gown (gasp) it reminded me of a bad curtain. UNLESS that's what the designers were going for, which I really doubt. The collection was not that bad but again the calibre of the Sunday night's shows, this collection was left in the dust.

Jackee Princeaue/ Defind (shoes)

 Now this show was chic and quite innovative. I love the interesting shapes and leather pieces incorporated with the dresses and the saddle/vest thing was pretty amazing, probably the highlight piece of the show.

Dahae Elyse Kim

Very polished collection. It had some very strong looks but the other fell off the wayside. But for some reason as each look went down the runway, Kris Van Assche's name kept on popping in my head. Loved the splatter pants and jacket. and the kaftan shirt I love but wont wear because I'm not exactly rail thin. But overall I loved the collection, I'm a big fan.

Camelia Skikos

Magic word: Color blocking. Now of course they saved the best for last. This collection rivals to the caliber of NYFW collections. Again, a very modern appeal. I supposed that's the whole team of the night.