Brandon D. Campbell, founder of Little Rock Fashion Week, always seems to come up with something juuust outside of the box for the fans. In previous shows, he introduced an artist who creates painted-on fashions. Last year, he turned a downtown street block into a runway. And for Little Rock Fashion Week 8 he found a designer who fashions dresses, skirts and tops out of ... balloons.
This years's affair took place July 20-23 at various venues around the city and again featured a trio of shows.
The July 21 For Kids By Kids show took place in a segment of the ballroom in Little Rock's Doubletree Hotel. Eleven-year-old Diamond Jones took to the runway as well as ushering in fellow models, who showed off clothing from Ritzy Kids, Crazy 8 boutique and Belk ... along with hair and makeup looks they created themselves. A hip-hop dance duo, Mikiya Smith and Edmund Bryant, provided entertainment.
The Bare show -- named thusly to celebrate the importance of being one's natural, makeup-free self -- took place the following evening at Hillcrest Hall, with KTHV's Raven Richard hosting. A troupe of models led by Bridgette Jones, Little Rock Fashion Week's 2015 Model of the Year, emphasized the show theme by hitting the catwalk in discarded plastic bags.
They then displayed fashions by Coco Elite boutique, Lily Rain, Runway Seven -- and, again, Belk -- in Little Rock and The Humble Thread in Cabot. Big Night preview fashions from Cross World Creations and Rosavrai were also shown. Special entertainment was poet Chris James.
Rain threatened but didn't wash out the Big Night, which took place outside in the 300 block of Main Street. Attendees munched on heavy hors d'oeuvres and sipped libations at nearby Club Level, whose downstairs was a staging venue for the models. Alexandria "Ally the Pub" Washington -- on-air personality for KIPR-FM, "Power" 92.3, and a reporter for KTHV -- hosted the show, which featured the inflated sartorial creations of Ringgold, La.-based Jonathan Darden of Balloonatic Fashions as well as pieces from Campbell's iME T-shirt line and the Cross World Creations and Rosavrai lines.
Guests were also treated to a "post-view" of fashions from the For Kids By Kids and Bare shows. Guests and participants returned to Club Level for an after-party.
Prior to the shows, Fashion Week staff, models and designers shared life stories and lessons with the youths at Pinnacle Pointe Hospital, a behavioral health-care facility.
-- Story and photos by Helaine R. Williams
High Profile on 07/31/2016