Recap: Macy’s Fashion Show, Rittenhouse Row Fall Gathering, Open Air
For those of you who went straight home after work to catch the season premiere of The Office, boy did you miss out on a lot. So allow me to fill you in…
First up, shoppers and fashion enthusiasts crowded a runway in the middle of Macy’s Center City for the Macy’s Fashion Show. Hosted by season one winner of NBC’s Fashion Star, Kara Laricks, the show marked the official debut of the 2013 collections of the Philadelphia Fashion Incubator’s inaugural crew of Designers-In-Residence (Autumn Kietponglert, Melissa D’Agostino, Latifat Obajinmi, Moriamo Johnson, Kaitlyn Doherty). While hardly surprising, their featured garments were quite impressive. More importantly, you got a sense of how unique each of the designers really are.
I was pleasantly surprised what Kietponglert’s line Heartless Revival has in store for 2013 (particularly her crazy cool statement jewelry). Her newest looks seem to have more of a goth-meets-glam feel. Still, I think it was Latifat and Moriamo who ultimately stole the show. Between the impeccably constructed and versatile pieces and vibrant prints, their line Aso Damisi certainly stood out amongst the mostly neutral-colored looks. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get a good spot in the crowd and then my camera died so you’ll have to bear with these photos.
Next, I was off to The Comcast Center for the Rittenhouse Row Fall Gathering. The array of delicious food and cocktails was insane. Practically every Rittenhouse bar and restaurant was in attendance serving up samples. Just in case that wasn’t enough stimulation for one evening, there was also a fashion show featuring fall styles from a slew of local shops and boutiques (Knit Wit, Intermix, Joan Shepp, Duke & Winston, Boyds, Arcadia Boutique, LOFT, South Moon Under, Kembrel, Adornia, LAGOS, ect.). The fashions were modeled by locals, including some of the neighborhood’s most familiar faces (not familiar to me, but to others). Honestly, there were too many great looks to mention, especially since each ensemble featured several amazing pieces from several different retailers/designers. Plus, I couldn’t show them to you even if I wanted. The huge spotlights surrounding the makeshift runway rendered my iPhone useless. Not to mention I had a plate of food and at least two cocktails in hand at all times.
Finally, my friends and I head up JFK Blvd to catch the spectacular light show better known as Open Air (which you can read more about here). We didn’t make it all the way to Eakins Oval for the opening festivities, but neither did a lot of people. A pretty decent crowd gathered near The Franklin Institute to check out the powerful spotlights (as well as the production crew filming an episode of the upcoming new NBC drama, Do No Harm). Not sure if the overcast had anything to do with it, but the lights didn’t appear to be shinning as brightly as I would have expected. I also couldn’t hear any of the recorded messages because the Open Air Philly app wasn’t available in the iPhone app store yet (it is now though). Still, there’s really no way around it—the shits cool.
**Photos by James Ewing
US*U.S with powerful designers.
Heartless Revival
Aso Damisi
Lobo Mau
LELE
Mariel Rojo
Giving notice in the philadelphia fashion scene <3
Its interesting how you LOVED Autumn K’s design on the Macy’s runway, but called her designs “A bunch of scarves thrown together” in your Philly Fashion Week review. It sounds to me like you had it out for PFW because they didnt give you the royal treatment for being a journalist. Not surprised at your biased journalism, because well, just like “Philly Fashion Week is a joke compared to New York” we could say the same about many of the novice journalist who cover it. I’m no longer taking any of your reviews seriously and neither should anyone else.
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