Fashion isn't just about what's modeled on the runway. In fact, runway fashion is but a stop on a journey that begins with the often colorful ways people choose to express themselves sartorially as they walk the streets of New York ... or Little Rock.
So says Mangue Banzima, a New York-based street-fashion photographer and founder of the Qui Style fashion blog (quistyle.com). Banzima visited Little Rock to lecture about street denim during the Arkansas Arts Center's Sept. 29 Art of Fashion series in conjunction with the exhibition "Cut, Pieced, and Stitched: Denim Drawings by Jim Arendt." (The exhibit runs through Oct. 23.)
"When it comes to promoting trends, we see it before the runway puts it out there," Banzima said during a pre-lecture interview. "When the designer makes it, he has to go find an influencer to be [an] ambassador for him. That person has to go out and wear it, get photographed, and then tomorrow it's going to be on the runway, on a model. So you're going to see it two ways."
The Rwandan-born Banzima went to New York about 20 years ago to go to school and began working as a stylist and personal shopper. After studying marketing and public relations, Banzima enrolled in the Savannah (Ga.) College of Art and Design, completing a fashion marketing management degree. He met Andre Leon Talley, former editor-at-large for Vogue magazine, and went on to become chief stylist for Little Black Dress, a book Talley co-authored. Meanwhile, Banzima became an admirer of Bill Cunningham, a New York Times photographer who died June 26 at age 87. Cunningham was known for his street-style photography.
"Being on the editorial side of styling, all the fun side, which is glamorous ... you pigeonhole yourself," Banzima says. "[You're] kind of close-minded at times because you kind of feel like the models you see in these magazines are the only way of ... doing fashion.
"Other regions throughout the world do fashion differently," he continues. "If you go to Senegal or Japan or even parts of New York or Latin countries, people are going to express themselves based on their cultural garments or cultural beliefs or religious beliefs."
So Banzima resolved to capture "the most fashionable people in the city." He placed the images on Qui Style -- Whose Style? in French. "It's an ongoing question," he says. "I think you can go from Kansas to New York and you're still not going to get an answer, because ... again, everywhere you stop, people are going to do it their way."
Current images on the site include women wearing sheer dresses with exposed undergarments (under the heading "Trending"); a high-heeled pump, converted into a handbag; a color-blocked, accordion-pleated chiffon sundress; and a woman with exaggerated bell-bottoms and a large rose covering the front of her red-, black- and white-striped shirt. What Banzima looks for: subjects who wear items that are not only colorful and distinctive, but also suggest fluidity and movement. And, these subjects must carry themselves with confidence.
"Street style is growing," Banzima says. "It's been there forever, but we didn't pay attention."
MODEL COMPETITION
Cupani Marketing Group, headed by Little Rock designer Lacie Cupani, announces its Fashion Model of the Year and Emerging Model of the Year competition for professional and amateur models. The preliminary competition will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Saturday in Ballroom A, Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock, followed by a show featuring the finalists from 7 to 9:30 p.m.
Held in partnership with Braelen Johnson, aka "DJ Juice," this contest comes with prizes totaling $10,700 in travel expenses and modeling opportunities. These will be awarded to the "Most Outstanding Model, 101" in four categories: female and female petite (ages 13-35 in both categories); male (16-35); and child (5-13). In addition, the four winners will be the featured models in fashion shows during New York Fashion Week in February or in a Paris show in October 2017.
Each model will compete, in person or via video, in casual wear, swimwear and formal wear and will be interviewed. Contestants will be judged for elegance, originality, liveliness and compassion. Audience members, along with the event's Facebook and Instagram followers, will vote for the top 25 models in each category to advance to the final show. There, judges will score the contestants, while audience members vote for winners in each category.
The entrance fee is $24.90; models can register at cupanifashion.com. Ticket prices for audience members include $49.99, VIP; $29.99, general admission-seated; and $10.99, nonseated. For more information, including height and size requirements for competing models, contact Cupani Marketing Group at cupanifashion@gmail.com or (501) 749-9479.
MODEL WINNER
Speaking of model competitions, congratulations are in order for Rosalyn Cornelius of Baton Rouge. She recently captured the Little Rock Fashion Week Model of the Year award after appearing in the event, July 20-23. Cornelius has been awarded a contract with Oneofakind Talent Inc. and apparel from iME Clothing as well as a feature and her own Web page at Littlerockfashionweek.com for a year.
Cornelius and her family were among those who suffered property damage during the August flooding in Baton Rouge. Brandon Campbell, founder of Little Rock and Baton Rouge fashion weeks, said his organization plans to present a gift of aid to Cornelius and other flood-affected alumni during that city's Fashion Week event in February.
ON WITH THE SHOW
As promised, here's a bit more information about Wednesday's Lafayette 148 New York benefit fashion show being hosted by Feinstein's ladies boutique and Arkansas Children's Hospital Auxiliary in the Great Hall of the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock.
Featured will be the Resort 2017 collection. The Lafayette 148 New York design team, led by creative director Emily Smith and chief creative officer Barbara Gast, "finds inspiration in the pursuit of effortless travel intertwined with modern nomadic ideals," according to a news release. A June Women's Wear Daily piece by Andrew Shang (wwd.com) tells of the "sense of ease and fluidity" found in the collection, a mix of interchangeable hard- and soft-textured pieces.
Again, doors will open at 11 a.m. for the noon-1:30 p.m. event. Guests will be treated to cocktails, hors d'oeuvres, a design video from the line's 20th-anniversary film series, and the show itself. They'll also be able to peruse the current collection at a pop-up shop with Edward Wilkerson, fashion director for Lafayette 148.
Tickets, $148, can be bought at eventbrite.com. Proceeds will go to the David M. Clark Center for Safe and Healthy Children at Children's Hospital.
Dressing Room runs monthly. Send Arkansas fashion-related tips and news releases to:
hwilliams@arkansasonline.com
High Profile on 10/16/2016