Although I am not a big fan of malls, the Domain has some things going for it that make it better than your average mall. For one, it's outside so you can walk around and relax with your dog. The other big benefit is that there are some nice restaurants that call Domain their home. Restaurants like NoRTH and McCormick and Schmik's are much more than a step above normal food court fare. And although when it first opened the Domain might have felt intimidating to those not willing to spend hundreds of dollars on one clothing item, the introduction of Forever 21 and the Domain II section now offer a much wider variety of price points for the average shopper.
This weekend the Domain played host to Simon Fashion Now, a yearly event in which Simon Malls around the country hold runway shows to highlight the upcoming trends for the season. The runway shows during Simon Fashion Now this year were comparable to that of last year's event. The fashion at a mall show is obviously not supposed to intrigue and inspire your wardrobe creativity, but rather to inspire you to buy these wearable items. Everything that walked the runway was safe and well put together, which is good but expectedly slightly boring.
But one of the pros of a big corporate fashion show like this one versus our funky and sometimes ill-prepared local Austin shows, is that the models actually know how to walk a runway. It's refreshing to take runway photos of models who know the pace at which to walk and allow for photos to be taken. The other nice thing about a show like this one is that it gives you a real look at what trends we can expect to see in stores right now and in the next couple of months. From what I saw at these shows it looks like bright colors, color blocking, crochet tops, and floppy beach hats are in for summer.
Check out my photos from the runway at Simon Fashion Now at the Domain:
