When we arrived at the Fashion On The Square 2012 venue InterContinental Hotel San Francisco’s 3rd floor on August 6, 2012, the excitement and anticipation surrounding the event were obviously high. VIP guests were waiting for their time to enter the ballroom, designers / MUAs / models were busy putting up finishing touches, and the hallway was crowded with people traffic. Almost immediately, we knew that there are great fashion moments waiting to happen.
And we were not disappointed: the 8th annual Fashion On The Square (FOTS), produced by Glass House and Unsung! Diva showcased exciting local designers such as the accomplished Joseph Domingo, Dark Garden, and Keneuoe, among others. This year, FOTS’s non-profit beneficiary is San Francisco Arts Commission.
Y’Anad Burrell (left) , Adelle Mcelveen (center), and the FOTS Advisory Council
The fashion show itself featured great local talents that were showcased alongside well-known retail brand names. Please click on each brand names to see Fafafoom.com’s photo sets of such as Old Navy, Banana Republic, DSW, Troop, and Apple Bottoms. The retail brands’ presentations were OK, however their showcase length and frequency made it seem like the audience was watching frequent extended commercials during primetime Olympics London 2012 coverage. That being said, the local talents showed the breadth of talents that San Francisco Bay Area possesses, and we’re so excited to see these local brands were brought more to the forefront.
And special kudos to Perception Dance Performance Troop (pictured left), whose members showed off their utmost dedication to their craft. They opened the second half of the fashion show (that started with Dark Garden) with a bang, and they’re one of the best dance segment I’ve ever seen (not just for modern dance, but for any kind of dance genres) in San Francisco Bay Area so far. Amazing focus, technique, facial expression, performance values. WOW! Hats off to you, ladies.
Congratulations again for all the designers; here they are, reviewed in chronological order.
As always, photos are by Christian Hadidjaja. Please click on the cover pictures to expand the albums.
Keneuoe
Already a fashion destination darling at Berkeley, Keneuoe presented clean, well-designed pieces with focused details with mixes of classic and bright colors down the runway. Indeed, “good design is timeless”, and Keneuoe is well moving to that direction.
The red wrap dress got the strongest audience approval, as well as the trench coats. My personal favorite is the finale V gown, that looked so elegant and beautiful, as if showing how much attention and hours were spent pouring into that garment. Well done!
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Regan Heath
The first of the three San Francisco State University student designers showcased that evening, Regan Heath’s collection featured easy-to-wear knits with touches of classic menswear details. My personal favorite piece is the green infinity scarf :)
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Jaevon A. Marshall
Jaevon’s collection is edgy and resonates well with SF Bay Area fashionistas. The black lace outfit at the beginning is cool, and I love the black lace pants (although the fit didn’t seem right for the model wearing it).
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Jonathan Cheung
The lace side panels on the dress shirt; the checkered trims attached and hanging from the outfits are nice concepts resulting in a little bit lukewarm impact. However, the last outfit felt pushing it a little too over the edge; the result veered more towards “trying too hard” to be sexy and edgy instead of being exactly that. Nothing wrong with the model though, she’s hot!
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Charmosa Swimwear
The swimwear pieces that were painted by Brazilian artists translated well into runway presentation. Kudos for the models’ selection, because they really brought out the beauty of these bikinis, one-pieces, swim trunks, and beach wraps.
However, seeing male models down the runway with almost nothing to wear still felt uneasy for me; nothing’s really left to the imagination and I’m not sure if it’s fashion we’re seeing down the runway or something else. And judging from the audience reaction during the male models’ segment, I’m not alone in that sentiment.
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Dark Garden
I LOVE this presentation. Not only the “Composed Fashion” segment introduced the refreshing music change to string quartet from hard booming pop/house music remixes, the way each outfits were showcased were absolutely fantastic. You felt the outfits’ different personalities acted by each models, and the constructions of each outfits looked superb. In the midst of it all, the corsets were always the center, as they should be. A thoroughly entertaining and focused presentation from Dark Garden. Well done!
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Randy Rowden
Before this segment, I did not get the appeal of bright-colored suits that some men paraded around with. But now I get it; the suits themselves were just one half of the equation. The other half is the overwhelmingly excited, hollering ladies that dig each and every look with exuberant enthusiasm. Of course! If you attract these beautiful ladies by dressing up in colorful suits, then why not?
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Joseph Domingo
Joseph Domingo was undoubtedly the star of the night. Earlier that evening, he was honored with “Designer of the Year” Award from the Mayor’s Office of San Francisco, and after his segment, he once again got the same award from FOTS Founder Y’Anad Burrell.
And those awards were well-deserved. His gowns are glamorous and sexy, sometimes edgy with the bust lines made some speculate whether there’s going to be some “nipplegate” incidents (the answer’s no, by the way). There were several well-made men’s suits gracing the runway, but the flowing gowns were clearly the attention-seeking divas.
The more glamorous of us would perhaps go for the white gowns; tiered, feathered, or embelished — your choice. However, my favorite is one of the more demure pieces of the bunch, the simple yet languid burgundy straight-lined gown with sweetheart neckline. No matter which diva you are, there’s definitely a Joseph Domingo gown for you.
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Once again, congratulations for all the designers, as well as Y’Anad Burrell and the rest of the FOTS team for job well done. It was a successful fashion show with a great variety of local talents that certainly deserved their spotlight more in the fashion world.
Thank you for reading, until next time,
Musank
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