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Fashionably Detroit
Michigan Designers rally for glitzy Motown showdown
Detroit isn't necessarily the spot that leaps to mind when one is discussing the finer points of haute couture, cocktail couture and cutting edge evening-wear. Generally relegated to the international beacons of Fashion Week: Paris, London, Milan, and New York City; the world's fashion elite have managed to avoid the Motor City the way one avoids ordering scallops in Wichita. It just seems like a better idea to pass.
But Brian Heath isn't having it. The Detroit-based fashion photographer/entrepreneur just wrapped the fourth annual Detroit Fashion Week – an event designed to mimic the pomp and pageantry of its headier namesakes. Held at Detroit's swanky new Asian Village complex (located downtown on the city's riverfront), the purpose of DFW is to help build a viable fashion industry in Michigan. Though it may seem like pie-in-the-sky stuff, with the state in the midst of the most crippling recession in recent memory, you wouldn't have known it by the level of talent on the catwalk. I attended the final night of the event on Saturday and was knocked out to see what the kids get up to around here when no one's looking.
My favorite pieces of the evening came courtesy of Midland, Michigan designer, Kristine Fergusson. Though many of her creations stray into the realm of period costume, that's not necessarily a bad thing. The breadth of Ferusson's passion brought to mind Christian Lacroix's 2008 spring/summer collection – only in a more feminine palette. Enormous, corseted Marie Antoinette numbers mingled gaily with white linen halter gowns and festive cocktail wear. Trains attached loosely with sparkling broaches gave some of the pieces regal, yet casual, detail and the attention to hair and makeup (radical, but stylish) made Fergusson's collection one of the most professionally savvy of the evening. My favorite piece was a floor-length, Scotch-plaid backless gown set about with long, flattering ruffles that flowed over the shoulder and down the neckline — fun and flashy.
But Brian Heath isn't having it. The Detroit-based fashion photographer/entrepreneur just wrapped the fourth annual Detroit Fashion Week – an event designed to mimic the pomp and pageantry of its headier namesakes. Held at Detroit's swanky new Asian Village complex (located downtown on the city's riverfront), the purpose of DFW is to help build a viable fashion industry in Michigan. Though it may seem like pie-in-the-sky stuff, with the state in the midst of the most crippling recession in recent memory, you wouldn't have known it by the level of talent on the catwalk. I attended the final night of the event on Saturday and was knocked out to see what the kids get up to around here when no one's looking.
My favorite pieces of the evening came courtesy of Midland, Michigan designer, Kristine Fergusson. Though many of her creations stray into the realm of period costume, that's not necessarily a bad thing. The breadth of Ferusson's passion brought to mind Christian Lacroix's 2008 spring/summer collection – only in a more feminine palette. Enormous, corseted Marie Antoinette numbers mingled gaily with white linen halter gowns and festive cocktail wear. Trains attached loosely with sparkling broaches gave some of the pieces regal, yet casual, detail and the attention to hair and makeup (radical, but stylish) made Fergusson's collection one of the most professionally savvy of the evening. My favorite piece was a floor-length, Scotch-plaid backless gown set about with long, flattering ruffles that flowed over the shoulder and down the neckline — fun and flashy.
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