The West 18th Street Fashion Show

Congratulations to the 10th anniversary West 18th Street Fashion Show Designers. The 18, A Decadent Summer designers are as follows (in no particular order):

Rachel Rolon
Shannon Bailey
Liz Peters
Cheryl Acosta
Jovana Mirabile
Spool*
Peggy Noland
birdies
Katie Coble
Amanda Nervig
Sara Emami
Nataliya Meyer
Tricia Rock
Sarah Nelsen
Jamilah Knight
Kaylin Hertel
Emma Burgess-Olson & Lauren Fallis
Maegan Stracy

Congratulations, designers! We can’t wait to see what you bring to our decadent runway this June 12.

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.

If you didn’t know, Ari Fish, one of the West 18th Street designers, is featured in the current season of Project Runway. Check out her online bio, profile and videos for the show- it is so strange and exciting for us to see her in that world, talking to Heidi Klum and Michael Kors… But what’s even more exciting to us is, according to the article in the Kansas City Star Aug. 18, 2009, by Lisa Gutierrez, Project Runway actually contacted her after seeing her designs in the West 18th Street Fashion Show.

I received an e-mail from “Project Runway” saying that they saw my designs in the West 18th Street Fashion Show and encouraged me to apply.

We are pleased and flattered that the people at ProjRun are in tune with our show, and are actually scoping it out for contestants. And even though they didn’t see the Ari as a commercial fashion designer, we are extremely proud of our relationship with her and we know that she has and will continue to leave her artistic mark in Kansas City and the world beyond.

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:

Guess who has a big spread in Ink Magazine this week? Check it out – it includes photos and interviews from each designer as well as sneak-peek photos from our closed dress rehearsal which took place Sunday.

Thanks also to Ink for sponsoring our event this year – we absolutely couldn’t do it without the generosity of our sponsors.

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.

Thanks to the Kansas City Fashion Examiner for such a nice feature on our event. The article features a behind the scenes type interview with our event’s Executive Producer, Ashlee Broome.

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.

The Lid is a partnership between Birdies and El Dorado Architects. This beautiful urban shell will be a removable structure that covers Wyandotte Street for outdoor events, especially the annual West 18th Street Fashion Show. As we work to raise funds and find sponsors to help fabricate our designs and ideas, we encourage you to stay updated on the future of this fun and challenging infrastructure. The economy has given us a chance to slow down and play with the project without pushing to produce it and we look forward to the debut. Please contact us if you would like more information or would like to be a benefactor.

One of our show’s featured collections and the presenter of the 18th Street Fashion Show, birdies panties and swimwear boutique, will be hosting a small cruise-wear fashion show at the Oyster Royster, which is a live benefit event for KCPT. This event is held at the City Tavern (one of my favorite dinner restaurants), and will take place next Wednesday the 13th. Peregrine Honig, owner of birdies and co-producer of the 18th Street Fashion Show, assures me that this event is worth every penny, “Not only do you get to support public television, but you get to see hot girls in swimsuits, hear live music, and eat oysters all night.” Sounds like fun, and it should get you excited for the 18th Street Fashion Show which is just a few weeks after on June 6.