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Friday, November 6, 2015

STLFW: Emerging Designer Competition

Photo credit: Ashley Lear
(After I chose this photo to include in my post, I realized that's my silhouette on the far right, bag on my arm looking down at my phone! Ha!)

We are right smack in the middle of Saint Louis Fashion Week here in the city! Somehow it is that time of year again. I feel like it has just been a couple of months since the runway shows last fall! I was bummed because the kickoff party was a couple of weeks ago when I was traveling for work, so this was my first official event I was able to attend - the Caleres Emerging Designer Competition at Union Station.



Collection: Novis
Photo credit: Mark Schwigen

The show was made up of five designer collections, all with very different and distinct styles. First up was Novis by Jordana Warmflash. I love this photo from Caleres' Instagram feed because you can really see the geometry and color of these pieces. It almost felt very resort-wear inspired to me but with a sharp and modern twist. The overall architecture of this collection made this one of my favorites to watch for the night!

Collection: Haus Alkire
Photo credit: Mark Schwigen

Haus Alkire by Julie Haus and Jason Alkire had me with their artistic prints and structured textiles. I also loved how wearable this collection came across. And the hats! The hats the models wore really added some punch and playfulness to these looks.

Collection: Azede Jean-Pierre
Photo credit: Mark Schwigen

If I could describe the Azede Jean-Pierre collection in two words, it would be "urban comfort." Every piece in this collection was relaxed, but in an artsy intentional way not a lazy accidental way. From the audience perspective, I pictured the fabrics to be cotton, linen, and chambray - very light and breathable. This suit above was my absolute favorite. I loved the layered asymmetry. If my midsection looked like that, I may wear that every day!

Collection: Eckhaus Latta
Photo credit: Mark Schwigen

Eckhaus Latta was hands down the most artistic collection of the night. These models looked like art sculptures strolling down the runway wearing so much creativity and fashion forward designs. Because this was more runway than real life, it was harder to relate to in terms of seeing myself in these actual pieces, but I still enjoyed all the details including how they used voids in the fabrics to enable the human body to become active components of the outfit!

Collection: Houghton
Photo credit: Mark Schwigen

And the winner of the $25,000 cash prize was Houghton by Katharine Polk. If you watch this video I found searching the #stlfw hashtag on Instagram (here) you will see why! The fluidity of these pieces was unreal - like a bohemian fairy tale princess. The crowd literally cheered when this dress floated down the runway, and I love how this photo captures its movement.

The prize was underwritten by Caleres, who you may know as their previous name - Brown Shoe Company. They're St. Louis based and have expanded their expertise into accessories and apparel. This was news to me until I saw a short video presentation at the show! With brands like DVF, Vince, Sam Edelman, and Naturalizer to name a few, Caleres really should be a household name.


So, I was an awful blogger and never took a photo of my entire outfit! I'm not quite sure how that happened, but I was wearing this dress, which I had intended on wearing to the rewardStyle party in September. I did, however, manage to take a shoefie - you can see Jenna in the background taking top down outfit selfies. :) I needed a gold pair of shoes in my life, and this SJP pair just spoke to me. And they were on sale. So.

Thanks to Explore St. Louis and the Midwest Influencer Network for sponsoring this content and allowing me to attend this event! I have a Dim Sum brunch today and then a dinner and wrap party tomorrow! You can follow along on Snapchat (carylee07) if you'd like live updates! Have a great weekend!

4 comments :

  1. I am trying to imagine the amount of work that must go into putting on not only an enormous event like this but each individual runway show with all of the designs they have to create. It's really amazing and how exciting that you get to be so involved in it again. So many fun events and I'm sure you will be taking a very long nap this weekend!
    Gina || On the Daily Express

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  2. Fashion week while exhausting is always fun. Adore your new pumps.

    xo
    PinkSole

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  3. That is so cool that have an event like this. It is always fun to see new emerging designers. I wish I had an event like this where I live - and I would love to attend NYFW, too.
    Lisa
    Daily Style Finds

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  4. what a fun event to go to! looks like a fun runway show!

    kelseybang.com

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