The West 18th Street Fashion Show

The Kansas City Crossroads West 18th Street Fashion Show returns! This year’s TENTH ANNIVERSARY event, A Decadent Summer, is looking for artists and designers to be a part of KC’s annual runway tradition. As our 10th anniversary event, this year will be bigger and more extraordinary than ever!

To apply:

• * At least 3 photographs of previous garment/clothing design work (not on CD)
• * Resume
• * Please tell us­– through both sketches and an artist statement­– how your designs will interpret this year’s title/theme, “A Decadent Summer.” Be bold; be brave; be excellent; and collect your inspiration from romantic elegance, drama, classic luxury and Edward Steichen.
• * Registration Fee: $25 (cash or check made payable to “18^th St. Fashion Show”)
• * Application materials may not exceed 12” X 15” in size.

Please mail or hand-deliver the above information to:

• Call for Artists
• c/o birdies
• 116 W. 18^th St.
• K.C., MO 64108

To be considered, all registration materials must be received by 7.00pm on Tuesday, March 9. Application will not be reviewed if ALL application guidelines are not followed. Please note, no materials will be returned. The selected eighteen collections will be announced during the week of March 8.

Selected designers must be available the following mandatory dates: May 22, June 6 & June 12. This year’s event will be held on Saturday, June 12, 2010.

Questions? Email 18thstreetfashionshow@gmail.com.

Last year’s ninth annual West 18^th Street Fashion Show, Summer in Space, featured eighteen collections showcasing the best in cutting-edge fashion design. Each year, this event draws a record-breaking crowd and coveted press. The West 18^th Street Fashion Show has been featured in Women’s Wear Daily (New York), My Midwest (Midwest Airlines’ In-Flight Magazine), KC Star, Verge Magazine, INK, Present Magazine, Urban Times, KC Studio and The Pitch, among others. Also, the event organizer- the 18^th Street boutique merchant birdies- has been covered locally in such further publications as KC Magazine, KC Living and Spaces, as well as nationally in Elle Magazine, Country Living, USA Today, Midwest Living, BUST and Nylon.

Photos are coming in from our official West 18th Street photographers Tom Foley and Vicki Smith. We are in the process of sorting through them and should have some up by the end of the week. Thanks again for your support of the West 18th Street Fashion Show; it is truly a community event and we could not do it without you!

Hopefully these will tide you over:

Below is a sneak peak from our dress rehearsal. Along with the models and designers, the musicians were on hand at rehearsals to run through the music for the night. Below is a photo of Cody Wyoming and John Furguson, with DJ Josh Powers in the background. They will be joined by our show’s music director, Mark Southerland along with special guests… For the first time ever for the 18th Street Fashion Show, we are featuring custom-produced musical accompaniment for each designer’s collection. The music you will hear is original music produced by local musicians with direction from the designer. I won’t spoil it by going further into detail, but I will say that it sounded incredible.

Below is a behind the scenes look at last year’s Summer at Sea fashion show. We hope it gets you as excited as we are about the upcoming show on June 6, Summer in Space. It features some great runway shots, as well as some behind the scenes interviews and video. Thanks to Metro Productions for their incredible filming and production - you know how to tell our story.

Below is a photo collage provided by Tom Foley, of Tom Foley Photography. Tom has been an official West 18th Street Fashion Show photographer for several years now, and we are pleased to have him involved again this year for Summer in Space. Following this year’s show (quickly approaching on June 6), our event website will feature his photographs from the event.

CALL FOR DESIGNERS

The Kansas City Crossroad’s West 18th Street Fashion Show returns.

This year’s ninth annual event, Summer in Space, is looking for artists and designers to be a part of KC’s runway tradition.

To apply:

*At least 3 photographs of previous garment/clothing design work (not on CD)
*Resume
*Please tell us how your designs will loosely interpret this year’s title/theme,
“Summer in Space”
*Registration Fee: $25 (cash or check made payable to “18th St. Fashion Show”)

Please mail or hand-deliver the above information to:

Call for Artists
c/o birdies
116 W. 18th St.
K.C., MO 64108

To be considered, all registration materials MUST be received by 7.00pm on Thursday, March 12th.

Chosen by a Designer Selection Committee made up of fashion-forward area professionals, the selected eighteen collections will be announced during the week of March 16th.

This year’s West 18th Street Fashion Show will be held on Saturday, June 6, 2009.

Please email any questions to 18thstreetfashionshow@gmail.com.

Please note, no materials will be returned.

Last year’s eighth annual West 18th Street Fashion Show, Summer at Sea, featured eighteen collections showcasing the best in cutting-edge fashion design. Each year, this event draws a record-breaking crowd and coveted press. The West 18th Street Fashion Show has been featured in Women’s Wear Daily (New York), My Midwest (Midwest Airlines’ In-Flight Magazine), KC Star, Verge Magazine, INK, Present Magazine, Urban Times and The Pitch, among others. Also, the event organizer- the 18th Street boutique merchant birdies- has been covered locally in such further publications as KC Magazine, KC Living and Spaces, as well as nationally in Elle Magazine, Country Living, USA Today, Midwest Living, BUST and Nylon.

* presented by birdies *

This year’s 18th Street Fashion Show was another smashing success!

Thank you to everyone involved- designers, models, sponsors and spectators, alike- in making the 18th Street runway the top KC fashion event of each year.

Be sure to check our photos section as we add images from this year’s event. And keep dropping back in on our website. We’ll continue to add posts as we prepare for next year’s runway extravaganza…

Designed by Maiko Kuzunishi of decoylab, limited edition, screen-printed Summer at Sea posters are available at www.decoylab.com.

Watch for this year’s West 18th Street Fashion Show featured on FOX 4 News with Loren Halifax on Monday, June 9th.

Two segments will feature works by Bon Bon Atelier, Katie Coble, Sikenomics Clothing with Beth Guinta and birdies panties and swimwear boutique, and will feature info from the show’s producers.

The segments will air around 8.25am and 8.50am.

Enjoy!

Check out our West 18th Street Fashion Show billboard..

Eastbound 670, 1 mile West of I-35 (facing West)!