recent Project Runway contestant and Austin based designer, Daniel Esquivel
As anticipation grew for the last night of Austin Fashion Week runway shows at La Zona Rosa, so did the threat of a thunderstorm over downtown Austin. By the time the first collection hit the runway, so did the rain. It’s only fitting that Friday night, which featured 5 former fashion reality show contestants, would end up causing the most dramatic scene. Raindrops fell through the old roof of La Zona Rosa and literally began to hit the runway as models wearing Crowned Bird strutted the catwalk in the first collection of the night. Priscilla Barroso, the designer behind Crowned Bird, set the bar high by showing a unique and playful retro-inspired collection. You can read more about Priscilla’s designs and see all the photos of her runway show here.
Because Friday night featured many designers whose work we have become familiar with via TV, there was unsurprisingly a lot of hype surrounding this night of runway shows. What’s exciting about the fashion scene in Austin right now, is that it has finally begun to reach a big enough audience such that we can truly judge designers on a higher level. The bar continues to be raised while more and more Austinites start to voice their opinions. And just because someone was on a few episodes of a TV show, doesn’t necessarily mean we have to love everything they put out. Friday night’s runway shows proved this.
Before his show, I asked Ross what I could expect to see from him on the runway. Ross Bennett has become a recent fixture in the Austin fashion scene due to his appearance on NBC Fashion Star a couple of years ago, and his Rising Star award win at last year’s Austin Fashion Week Awards. However, I have to admit that I am still waiting for Ross to prove himself worthy of the attention he has received from most of the Austin fashion community. I do not understand who Ross is as a designer yet, and I have a feeling he doesn’t know either. Wednesday night Ross arrived in his usual dapper attire donning a suit and bowtie, while the next night pulled a Chris Gaines on me and arrived in an alter ego outfit consisting of a beanie and a t-shirt layered with women’s necklaces around his neck.
Ross named his most recent collection, which he showed on Friday night, “classical chaos.” He told me I could expect to see a darker collection from him, which he said would be a reflection of all the chaotic things he has had to deal with in his life recently. What walked the runway on Friday, however, was in no way dark and in no way chaotic. While he did have a few “classical” pieces which I think were okay pieces, overall I don’t know what story he was trying to tell with his clothing. I think Ross needs to do some more exploring and figure out who he wants to be as a designer. You can have however many personal looks you want, but your collection needs to have a solid identity.
Besides Crowned Bird, Lilly Lorraine was one of my preffered collections of the night. However, it is surprising to me that a designer out of Austin would design using such heavy fabrics. When exactly is one supposed to wear all these heavy dresses and coats? But I do think that she showed one of the most innovative, artistic, and also cohesive collections that I saw during all the shows at La Zona Rosa.
Christi Craven, the designer behind Lilly Lorraine, actually designs and creates her own unique textiles, one of which is currently patent-pending. To fully appreciate her clothing, I think you need to take a look at her designs up close as she pays close attention to detail and you can see the interesting fabric manipulation. One of the things I love most about her work, is her ability to create pieces which are both structured and yet soft at the same time. I also love her use of lines and am impressed with how she designs to create figure flattering pieces even though she uses fabric that could otherwise appear bulky.
His was definitely the most hyped of all the runway shows, and it breaks my heart to say that the collection from our local Austin designer who just barely missed making it to the Project Runway finale, was also the biggest let down. It’s not that Daniel Esquivel showed a bad collection, or that it was by any means my least favorite collection, it’s just that I was hoping for much more.
After seeing his success on Project Runway, I think we were all expecting to really be blown away. Don’t get me wrong, his polka dotted gown that opened the show was fabulous and sophisticated with a wink, just like Daniel himself. Everything which walked the runway after that first dress however, was a bit of a disappointment. I actually have a feeling, and also hope, that perhaps the designer has just been too busy to be able to put out a truly inspiring collection. This was his big chance to wow us, and a black t-shirt with “Daniel Esquivel” printed on it paired with a basic bikini bottom, was not the way to do it. I am still interested though to see what he comes up with next.
Other collections which showed on Friday night included Pearl Southern Couture by Amber Perley out of Dallas, Vian Hunter out of Seattle, Three07 from Alabama, and RVN presented by Young & Fabulous. Both Amber and Vian were on Fashion Star alongside Priscilla of Crowned Bird.
Pearl Southern Couture and Three07 showed very similar collections which were both obviously geared towards sorority girls with Three07 even showing a few UT game day inspired looks. The collections were unoffensive, but yawn inducing. I especially grew tired of Amber’s because it seemed to never end as a lot of the pieces looked so similar to one another.
But just when I started to doze off from Three07 and Pear Southern Couture, Vian Hunter’s collection woke me up. Unfortunately it had nothing to do with the clothing, but rather everything to do with the odd choice of using Macklemore’s “Thrift Shop” song as her runway music. I don’t care if I was sitting in the front row, how does one not start rapping along to this song? I caught Matt Swinney and Ross Bennett looking my way and laughing during the show, but I know they were secretly trying to hold back busting out the lyrics and some dance moves as well.
Joanna Wilkinson
keep austin stylish