Fashion Events in San Francisco

Find out more about upcoming fashion events taking place in the San Francisco Bay Area.

3 Swimwear Trends for Summer 2011

With the weather finally warming up we’re all eager to hit the beach. Whether you’re soaking up the sun in Manhattan Beach or Greece, the most important decision of the swimming season is which swimwear pieces you’ll be wearing.

This year Stylebust.com is taking a look at our favorite 3 ‘in’ styles in swimwear, helping you choose the piece of swimwear that is perfectly inline with 2011’s fashion trends.

Option 1: Vintage Style Swimwear
Vintage inspired swimwear has a huge presence in 2011. The look doesn’t have to consist of the strawberry cheesecake, or mod striped clichés. Nor does a vintage bikini or swimsuit have to be like a pin-up girl costume (thank god). This year many swimwear designers are infusing vintage details into modern pieces. They are incorporating some high-waist bikini bottoms, as well as vintage prints on one piece suits and more modern bikini silhouettes.

image of Anthropologie Swimwear 2011
image of Anthropologie Vintage Swimwear 2011

Vintage Style Swimwear from Anthropologie.

Option 2: The Metal Details
There have been metals accents and embellishments on swimwear for many seasons. The look has gone to the extreme this time around. We think this look is sexy and eye-catching. It’s just as appropriate for the school teacher as it is the Harley-Davidson rider. We just caution that people who buy heavily accessorized swimwear don’t overdo it with the jewelry. Since this trend is not entirely new, the metal detail swimsuit will be a safe bet for 2012 and beyond.

image of beach bunny swimsuit april-in-paris

April In Paris Suit by Ladies Beach Bunny Swimwear.

image of Victorias Secret embellished swimsuit

Embellished Suit by Victoria’s Secret.

Option 3: Crochet Swimwear
Influenced by the return of the Spring 2011 crochet trend, crochet swimsuits and crochet bikinis are not just on-trend this season, they’re the must-have swimwear style for 2011. Our favorite feature of crochet swimwear is that it borders neatly on day wear. Pair a crochet one piece with denim cut-offs for a perfect festival fashion look; or with wide-leg pants or a midi-skirt for those resort afternoons.

image of Lisa Maree Swimwear 2011
image of Lisa Maree Crochet Swimwear 2011

Crochet Swimwear by Lisa Maree.

San Francisco: Are you ready for Black V?

A FundRaiser Event for The Foundation of City College, a 501(c)(3) organization. All proceeds will be donated to the Fashion Production Class, at City College of San Francisco, in celebration of its 10th year anniversary.

A Fashion Event. Featuring: Jay Nicolas Sario (Project Runway), HOMME by Dahae Kim, LHC Couture, Cari Borja, MENK, Ken Chen SF, GB Shrive, and Phuong My. Accessory Design: Kaatje, Guzel, and Eugene Huang.

image of BLACK V POSTER

A Masquerade. Dress up in black and wear a mask. Make an appearance and disappear in the night. Eyes. Wide. Shut.

SATURDAY | MAY 21, 2011 | 6 PM/730 PM | 1417 15TH STREET SF, CA

Coveted BLACK V tickets are $20 (with reserved runway seating):

For more information visit blackvsf.com.

Project Ethos in San Francisco

Project Ethos Successfully Launched in San Francisco

Local Industry and Consumers experience Fashion, Music and Art under one roof

San Francisco, CA – Ruby Skye played host to over 600 bay-city attendees on hand to witness the largest display of local fashion, music and art on record Thursday night, April 14th.

Project Ethos filled the multi-story venue with a dynamic array of talent. Entering the venue revealed that this was no average night with a 50 foot long white runway and large projector screen displaying custom graphics, a live band set up, nine local artists on display, a brightly lit red carpet and press banner, Carlton Hair booth with free goodie bags, vitaminwater zero™ bar, photo station and a Meet and Greet with the participants sponsored by Absolut vodka with cupcakes by That Takes the Cake.

Carlton Hair Experience Winner Elena Dvorochkin hit the red carpet with three lucky friends looking glamorous from receiving VIP treatment at a local Carlton Hair Salon. After being escorted past the red carpet for photos, Elena, her newly made-over straightened locks and the whole group were treated to bottle service compliments of Absolut, a sponsor of Project Ethos. Prior to the event Elena exclaimed, “As a working artists myself, the juxtaposition of the influence between the genres is an interesting thing to witness. So, needless to say, I’m thrilled to get this awesome opportunity!” The melodic tones of the indie rock band Geographer swept through the venue before the fashion show as they played popular songs from their buzz worthy record “Animal Shapes.”

Geographer the band

Excitement grew as the fashion show commenced where garments presented as part of the “vitaminwater zero™ Flavor Fashionista Challenge” were presented as the last look by the five local emerging designers. The text-in votes resulted in the award going to custom swimsuit designer team Lucy Bea and Ashley Hayes (Lucy Bea Swimwear). Brand Manager Hayes stated, “Our flavor was vitaminwater zero™ Rhythm. We were inspired by the vibrant green color. We wanted to capture that summer color and incoroporate movement to translate the upbeat feel of our pieces which is why the ruffles on the bikini were the centerpiece.” When asked what it meant to Lucy Bea Swimwear to win a $3,000 prize of their choice she replied with great enthusiasm, “It’s so exciting! We’re still new and we were competing against designers who were more established so we weren’t expecting it but it inspires us to keep moving towards our goal.” After the fashion show the crowd was ready to party to a DJ set by the Limousines.

Many local members of the industry attended the lively event including buyers from stores such as Cranberry Boutique and Fiat Lux and curators from local Gallery Hijinks and Modern Eden.

Cardiwrap by Kevin Sam

Frederick's of Hollywood Swimwear by Kevin Sam

Zoe Hong by Kevin Sam

Project ETHOS produces red carpet events showcasing all emerging Millennial Generation forms of creativity in one house, on one night. By merging fashion, music, and art concurrently, Project Ethos brings into existence a unique avenue for artists. The goal is to give opportunity for featured participants, as well as arrange a truly invigorating experience for an attendee.

*Images by Kevin Sam. Story by Brianne Bear.

 

11/26: Meet Desinger Nina Basharova at Manika Jewelry

San Francisco’s Manika Jewelry is hosting a “Meet the Designer” event with Nina Basharova on Friday, November 26th 11AM to 6PM at Manika Jewelry (11 Maiden Lane, San Francisco).

Avoid the Black Friday chaos and spend the day with Nina Basharova. Nina is an internationally renowned fine jewelry designer. Her “Milky Way” collection is a favorite of wedding and bridal magazines. The Knot, Brides, Elegant Brides, and Weddings are among those that have taken notice of her unique designs such as the Milky Way Garland Choker shown below.

image of Nina Basharova Garland Choker

Outside of the wedding space, Glamour and Redbook have featured her popular “Barbed Wire” and “Pea Pod” collections. I’m a HUGE fan of the “Combined Rings”.

image of Nina Basharova Pea Pod Pendants
image of Nina-Basarova-Long-Citrine-Chandeliers
image of Nina Basharova Combined Rings

If you like what you see, please come out and meet Nina at Manika Jewelry this Friday!

Getting Sassy, A Recap of Sassy City Chicks Fashion Bash SF

Last Thursday, on a cold San Francisco day, all the ladies at Sassy City Chicks Fashion Bash were feeling pretty hot. Music was going, complimentary Dirty Blonde Cocktails were flowing as well as complimentary massages and hair styling curiosity of the San Francisco Institute of Esthetics and Cosmetology.  But the biggest draw for me was the unique selection of clothing and accessories at steep discounts. There were about sixty designers exhibiting, and the booths were well surrounded by women trying to take advantage of great deals before they were all gone. There was no need to rush but I felt like I had to think fast and move fast because I wanted to see everything.

Items included dresses, tops, sportswear, handbags, jewelry, and designer denim like that from Pamela Sukeforth’s Fashionistette booth where there was no reason to question a denim buy at a great price. Mid length cotton tees and cropped tanks stood out as a trend as well as stripes and extra loose cardigans. Jewelry ranged from independent designers like Pretty Fun Design to Stella & Dot who actually host private home parties (which is a great idea for anyone planning a bridal shower).

Metropolitan Mixed Chain Necklace

Guilian Rancic wearing Stella & Dot

Now lets talk about the ticket price.  The Tote (goodie bag) ticket entry price at $20.00 was a great deal. There were over a dozen items, composed of all the perfect ingredients for staying out all night and still looking put together the next morning…that’s pretty Sassy if you ask me! I know the contents of my goodie bag got put to good use this last weekend.

The bag included great practical products. Some stands out items were, Pixi by Petra’s Vitamin Lipsilk, Revlon Fantasy length lashes, and sexy underwear from Fredrick’s of Hollywood. I had my first taste of Brain Toniq, an organic designed to give you mental clarity and a wiser choice than Redbull. There was a full-sized sample of a Kind health bar, and after trying this bar for the first time ever, I know (100%) I will be buying them in the future. I was expecting a chewy, sugary bar but it was the right amount of sweet and tasted pretty fresh. I’m also always happy to have a reusable bag for taking my lunch to work or for what I call my “Mr. Rogers switch” which carries my work shoes to comfy shoes.

Sassy City Chick’s Fashion Bash events take place in San Francisco as well as other cities including Los Angeles, San Diego, New York and Miami. With the Holiday’s coming up, it is definitely a good place to grab gifts for your friends and family. Check out Sassy City Chick’s for upcoming events.

Valpixel at San Francisco Fashion Week 2010

Valpixel is the last show I saw for San Francisco Fashion Week 2010. I really enjoyed the collection, however it was unfortunate that this designer was placed last in the lineup. The reason I say unfortunate is because even though the pieces themselves were hands-down amazing, the collections presentation was mediocre. The music consisted of one, extremely slow song, on repeat (annoying). The models walked an incredibly slow pace to match the music, and as a result, the presentation was too long for people’s’ attention spans.

If you take a close look at the pieces however, you’ll find that the design and construction of each garment is outstanding. I really dig the muted fire tone colors paired with basic solids. I can’t say for sure whether this collection was designed for a Fall season, but it was completely right to showcase going into the Fall. In my mind the colors paired with the hooded look were Fall.




Photographs by Steven Han.

Chan.nel Karama LTD at San Francisco Fashion Week 2010

Chan.nel Karama LTD is a mouthful of a brand. Designer, LC Skinner is the talented, San Francisco native behind Chan.nel Karama Limited and Karama Denim Luxe Brands.

Last Saturday, during SFFW, Skinner presented her Chan.nel Karama Limited collection. As the show began, it was obvious that Skinner wasn’t new to fashion shows (and after doing some research, I’ve learned that Skinner’s brands participated in Full Figured Fashion Week 2010 in NYC). The presentation at SFFW was definitely avant garde, and the models certainly helped execute the presentation through their intense and determined walks and expressions. I got the sense that this collection is for the “tough woman”, “bad ass” type. I really appreciated the simple darkness of the collection as well as the construction details. Some pieces had chains sewn into the them, while other pieces were adorned with obscure accessories. Here are some images from the SFFW show. I expect there will be more of Chan.nel Karama LTD on Style Bust and across the news in coming months!
image of Chan.nel Karama LTD at SFFW 2010
image of Chan.nel Karama LTD at SFFW 2010 shorts
image of Chan.nel Karama LTD at SFFW 2010 dress
image of Chan.nel Karama LTD at SFFW 2010 black jumper
image of Chan.nel Karama LTD at SFFW 2010 white cap

Photographs by Steven Han.

Alyssa Nicole at San Francisco Fashion Week 2010

Owen Geronimo of the San Francisco Fashion and Merchants Alliance is a friend of mine, and as of this year he is also the man behind San Francisco Fashion Week. Lucky for me, this means I have access to some very saucy San Francisco fashion events throughout the year and San Francisco Fashion Week made the start to a new fashion season a lot sweeter!

Aside from Alexandria von Bromssen, I wasn’t aware of any of the designers on the SF Fashion Week schedule this year. Now, you have to understand how small and disconnected the fashion scene is here in SF; and that the majority of the San Francisco based trend setters and fashion bloggers totally overlook the talent we have in our backyard to go straight to NYC based designers – and most of the time, not even by way of LA. That said, it’s hard to get good, honest data on what the designers here is SF are doing, and how we can see their collections.

This first collection I saw was self titled, Alyssa Nicole. The show started with very upbeat, dance music and cute girly models adorned in high tea type dresses. The collection was loosely tied together by two strings, 1) all items were dresses, and 2) it was entirely pink. As you can imagine this collection could go one of two ways….really, really good, or awfully bad. As you can see by the pieces below, I think most of us would agree that the collection fell into “good, with shades of gray”.

Pros: The silhouettes are flattering. The dress styles are current. The models all seemed comfortable, flirty and maybe even happy coming down the runway. I bet we all can imagine ourselves or closest girlfriends wearing one of these pieces.

Cons: Too much pink. Too many ruffles, layers, and frill for most urban girls.

image of Designer Alyssa Nicole at SFFW 2010
image of Designer Alyssa Nicole at SFFW 2010 pink dress
image of Designer Alyssa Nicole at SFFW 2010 pink layered dress
image of Designer Alyssa Nicole at SFFW 2010 pink ruffle dress
image of Designer Alyssa Nicole at SFFW 2010 pink tool dress
image of Designer Alyssa Nicole

The designer Alyssa Nicole is photographed in this last image.

Photographs by Steven Han.

Go to Top