Gainesville Fashion Week 2011: Saturday

I'm late, I know. It was my last week of school and everything got crazy. Last Saturday, was the finale of Gainesville Fashion Week. The whole thing went by much faster, since there were only two nights of shows this time. I wasn't sick, so I was able to stay, but Saturday night was such a great bunch, I would've stayed anyway.

Sironna started the show off, with their amazing line of hand-crafted swimsuits. When I was an accessories blogger for the now-defunct The Gainesville Style magazine because I was impressed by their accessories, as well as the suits. They downplayed the accessories this year, which previously only mounted to headbands and a woven bag, and focused more on creating a more island/Caribbean-inspired (the designers are from Colombia) line with a bit of the hippie aesthetics left over from last year. They played around with geometric shapes, sending down several different styles that used the same pattern. There were also a few bikinis with a second tie in the back that crossed around the front, an effect I fell in love with when it came down the runway.

Chris Cardi showed his Miami-inspired line, but it was the stereotypical stuff you look for, like floral prints. The line mixed in beach culture with prep culture, something that's increasingly becoming blurred in the south. Most of the denim was a dark, monotone wash (a welcome change from all the different washes you see in jeans nowadays) and even the skinny jeans look like they'd be comfortable enough to take a nap in. There were a lot of bright colors, tanks and t-shirts. Two things that I really loved were relaxed Bermuda shorts, pants and denim, for men and 1950s-inspired varsity jackets for guys.

Chris Cardi-Part 1

Chris Cardi-Part 2

Whitley Denise was like being in a sort of velvety heaven. At times, my jaw dropped as sequined pieces, a velvet floral dress and long-sleeved mini dresses came down the runway. It was like someone found my ideal Las Vegas wardrobe and sent it down the runway. Whitley Denise is a an online vintage shop based in Jacksonville, Fla. and in my wardrobe dreams.

Whitley Denise

Mikho Reconstructed, one of the most-anticipated shows of the night, started off with a video that confused most of the audience, but was honestly artsy enough to be right up my alley. The video was a bit gory at times, but it basically symbolized all of the bad things we're doing now and natural disasters we've had leading up to the apocalypse. What do you wear in a post-apocalyptic world? Gas masks, for one. Understated tie-dye shirts, woven scarves, jump suits and headphones. Most of the pieces were cool colors and had a smoky element. The journey from concept to design was perfect.

Mikho Reconstructed

Thirty-Three Couture, a new boutique in Gainesville, put on the penultimate show. They just opened not too long ago, so the fact that they were able to put together a show was impressive, especially since they had a whole lot of looks. The boutique is somewhere between Forever 21 and a high-scale boutique, but that's really perfect for Gainesville with the huge student population who'll spend a little extra for nice pieces. I was particularly drawn to a black pleather dress with a ruffle detail on the side. 


Bobby K, who, along with Miguel from Mikho Reconstructed, is one of the beloved designers of the week, announced a collaboration with Three-Thirty Couture. He will design clothes especially for the boutique and one of the boutique owners was wearing their first piece, a silver one-shoulder mini dress. During his show, there were a lot of cool colors--blues and silvers--mixed with a couple the warm burgundy and a bit of black thrown in here and there. He favored bandage dresses, a few ussing one color in several hues. One of the most interesting pieces I saw was a pair of knee-length harem pants for men. 


In addition to all of the fabulous designers at fashion week this year, the location was perfect. Villa East was smaller than Vault, where they had last year's show, but I hear it had more space than Sharab (I wasn't at fashion week the year before last and I've never been to Sharab, so I'm not sure), so it just seemed to be the perfect size and much easier to decorate. The two rooms also made it easy to have a smooth transition from the runway to a room for socializing.


A part of me hopes to be there next year and another part of me hopes to be nowhere near Florida.