Posts tagged Bay Area

Define: Beauty Fashion Show – A Socially Responsible Event

Groundwork Opportunities (GO) is a nonprofit organization that funds income generating projects in the developing world. GO hosts a handful of philanthropic events each year, and last month I had the pleasure of attending their event: Define: Beauty at Madrone Studios in San Francisco. The show featured Bay Area up-and-coming designers Dallas Parke and Sarah Liller along with established fashion names: Retrofit Republic, Cari Borja, Ken Chen, MENK, Kajan Padraig and Daniel Sudar. The collections were gorgeous, and the show (produced by Clarissa Nicosia) was entertaining, but the evening’s goal was much more serious: to raise enough money to fund a sustainable clean water well for over 4,000 people in Tanzania.

The runway show began promptly at 7:30 after cocktail hour with wines from Rock Wall Wine Company, and hors d’oeuvres by Beast and the Hare. The collections looked stunning against the venue’s white interiors. Trendy dresses by Kajan Padraig, chic and girly silhouettes by Sarah Liller, urprisingly interesting gender-bending ensembles from Retrofit Republic and menswear from Daniel Sudar were stand-outs of the evening.

Here are some of our favorite looks from the show. Photography by Jayson Carpenter.

Kajan Padraig

image of Kajan Padraig Define Beauty

image of Kajan Padraig Define Beauty 2

image of Kajan Padraig Define Beauty 3

MENK

image of MENK Define Beauty

imaage of MENK Define Beauty 2

image of MENK Define Beauty 3

Retrofit Republic

image of Retrofit Republic Define Beauty

image of Retrofit Republic Define Beauty 2

image of Retrofit Republic Define Beauty 3

Sarah Liller

image of Sarah Liller Define Beauty

image of Sarah Liller Define Beauty 2

Ken Chen

image of Ken Chen Define Beauty

image of Ken Chen Define Beauty 2

image of Ken Chen Define Beauty 3

Daniel Sudar

image of Daniel Sudar Define Beauty

image of Daniel Sudar Define Beauty 2

image of Daniel Sudar Define Beauty 3

Cari Borja

image of Cari Borja Define Beauty

image of Cari Borja Define Beauty 2

image of Cari Borja Define Beauty 3

Dallas Parke

image of Dallas Parke Define Beauty

image of Dallas Parke Define Beauty 2

Inspiration for Define: Beauty came to the GO team while working with residents in Moshi, Tanzania to build a sustainable source of clean drinking water. While there, the team was met with unparalleled levels of hospitality and selflessness from a community that existed without everyday resources like clean water. The women of Moshi did not attribute beauty to the latest styles but rather inner strength and contributions to better the community. This experience lead to the concept and creation of first annual event to help impact an insurmountable global water crisis.

Not only was the fashion show itself amazing, Define: Beauty partnered with local sponsors and entrepreneurs that are actively engaged in generating awareness and solutions to environmental issues around the world. Some companies at the event were: Falling Whistles, which fuels awareness for violence in the Congo, and Hydros Bottles, who reduce the amount of plastic in landfills by producing reusable BPA-free water bottles that can filter on the go.  Hydros Bottles also shares Groundwork Opportunities’ mission to combat the global water crisis in developing nations and has partnered with Engineers Without Borders to create Operation Hydros, where purchase proceeds go towards providing clean drinking water abroad. Fashion partner, Gilt City San Francisco, has an exclusive e-commerce site where members can access trendy local deals and services. The goodie bags for Press were stocked with all sorts of goodies including a bottle of California white wine from Rock Wall Wine Company, $100 work for hair treatment at CODE Salon!

 

Mrs. Libeskind Shops At Babette

image of Nina Libeskind and the President

Mrs. Nina Libeskind, pictured above with President Barack Obama is the co-founder of Studio Daniel Libeskind, and wife of Daniel Libeskind, a New York based architect that worked on projects at Ground Zero, the Jewish Museum in Berlin, The Art Institute in Chicago, and the Centre Pompidou in Paris to name a few. Nina and her husband maintain a high-profile lifestyle in New York City, and constantly need the wardrobe to go along with the lifestyle.
Recently, while Nina and Daniel were vacationing in Santa Fé, when they visited Babette. Nina was looking for an outfit to wear in the White House. Eva Koehler, the manager of the Santa Fé store helped Mrs. Libeskind. Eva reported that Mrs. Libeskind was kind, sweet, and she and her husband were very affectionate.  Mrs. Libeskind purchased a three-piece outfit that Eva recommended as a great outfit for the White House event.  The pieces were from Babette’s Summer 2011 collection, and included a grass tank top underneath a 3/4 sleeve skull top and bouquet skirt (see image of Mrs. Libeskind above wearing the top).
Here are the items as shown within Babette’s Summer 2011 Collection lookbook.
image of Babette Summer 2011

About Babette:

Oakland, CA based Babette launched its first signature clothing line in 1968. Since Babette’s inception, the design house rooted in mid-20th century modernist architecture, industrial and graphic design. Designer Babette Pinsky continues to thrive with new ideas and designs. In recent years, co-designer Josephine Tchang has helped expand to companies offerings into sportswear collections.

Ultimate Decor for a Wedding Reception

As some of you might know I’m getting married this summer at the Peninsula Golf & Country Club in San Mateo, CA.

I’d like the decor to make a big and accurate statement about our style, however I am not much of a flower person. I’d like the decor to consist of some white and ivory field flowers as well as plenty of potted succulents (that I get to keep forever!), as well as LOTS of candles. I try to sum the look and feel up as vintage, natural and earthy. Lace and dolies will also be another huge element to tie the looks together.

Here are my current inspirations:
image of Nicole Lindgren Wedding Decor

image of Nikki Lindgren Wedding Decor

image of Nicole Lindgren Wedding Reception Decor

image of Nikki Lindgren Wedding Reception Decor

Interview with Pamela Sukeforth of Fashionistette.com

image of Pamela Sukeforth of Fashionistette

I learned about Fashionistette months ago through the powers of Twitter (Twitter recommended I follow @fashionistettes, so I did, and lucky for me, Pamela followed @FashionBust back!). What is Fashionistette.com you ask? Well, the short answer is it’s one of the strongest online women’s boutiques based in the Bay Area. The site featured a range of sought after, yet difficult to find fashion labels.

I met Pamela Sukeforth (pictured to the left), founder of the eCommerce site a couple of weeks ago through Justyna of Moda Epidemic. Not knowing too much more than I’ve already told your about Fashionistette or Fashion in eCommerce, I set out with a list of questions to ask Pamela to learn more about what she’s up to. Here are Pamela’s answers!


Style Bust: What was the first item you purchased online?
I bought Zooey Tee from ShopLAStyle.com about 5 years ago.

Style Bust: What were you doing before you started Fashionistette?
My career has been in Corporate Retail Planning and Buying for big companies like Macy’s and Guess? Jeans. I have always wanted to start and run my on business and decided to go for it two years ago.

Style Bust: Can you describe the circumstances and your thinking that led to the decision of creating an eCommerce site?
I am new to eCommerce and really enjoy the creativity to building and maintaining an online business. I decided to go online because retail has been soft in SF and wanted to reach more customers.

Style Bust: Describe the work behind creating the site.
I wanted to build the website myself but didn’t know HTML so I had to learn and develop at the same time. The process has been rewarding and challenging.
Style Bust: Wow, that’s very impressive!

Style Bust: What separates Fashionisette from its competitors?
I offer current merchandise from contemporary fashion brands. Customers like the special discounts, pop-up sales and giveaways I do with partner blogs. They have said they like the merchandise, product photography on a model and my blog.

Style Bust: What type of brands do you sell?
I sell women’s contemporary brands like Black Halo, Twelfth Street, Nation Ltd and Genetic Denim (the images below give you a taste of what I sell).

image of black halo blue shirt
image of black halo plum dress
image of black halo walnut dress
image of BLACK HALO WHITE SHORT

Style Bust: I’m a huge fan of the white shorts by Black Halo. They look absolutely perfect!

Style Bust: How do you go about selecting and buying items for the site?
I go to LA Fashion Market quarterly and buy existing brands selecting the best pieces to ship each month. Also, I look at new brands to add to the assortment different price points.

Style Bust: Does your personal style play into your buying role a lot?
Yes Fashionistette is a reflection of my personal style, which is casual chic and easy to wear day to evening.

Style Bust: If you could pass along one piece of advice to someone considering creating an eCommerce site, what would it be?
SEO is very important for web traffic.

Style Bust: Final question. Is there anything else you’d like our readers to know?
yes, I will be a vendor at the Sassy City Chicks shopping event at Fort Mason on September 16th, 2010. This will give shoppers a chance to see and try on merchandise up to 80% off retail. Flyer:
image of Sassy City Chick Fashion Bash Sample Sale

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