LAST WEEKEND I GOT my hair cut, got my nails did, and
spent a good couple of hours detoxing in the spacious white refuge of
Löyly Sauna. Other than the fact that I didn’t quite make it to
the dry cleaners, I think I’m pretty much ready for the onslaught of
fashion that’s about to hit this town—are you?
With its inaugural night kicking things off well after press time on
the evening of Wednesday, October 7, by the time this issue hits the
streets Portland Fashion Week will be in full swing. This is the third
year of the event in its more or less present form (by which I mean
since it went Big), and it is marked by a return to the shipyards of
Swan Island as a venue. This proved a dramatic and excitingly offbeat
locale in 2007, although it was met with criticism for being so far off
the grid—you can ride your bike there, but it’s dark and
unfamiliar territory for most. (Although isn’t this really about
not wanting to appear overly sweaty and disheveled at the pre-party,
always so full of those mysteriously moneyed and well-groomed people
you never run into anywhere else?) Nonetheless, the bike accessibility
is proven with “Ready to Roll,” a matinee show of bike-friendly attire
pooled from nearly 30 design firms—including big-name brands like
Patagonia, Icebreaker, Simple, and (shudder) John Fluevog—taking
place on Saturday afternoon, October 10, from which attendees are
encouraged to bike en masse from the fashion show to the
afterparty.
Another new development this year is the inclusion of an Emerging
Designer Showcase competition (full disclosure: I served on the
submission panel), where a select number of designers are showing
smaller collections for a discounted rate, in order to facilitate the
inclusion of those in the process of transitioning in their careers.
The audience at Thursday night’s (October 8) presentation will have the
opportunity to weigh in on a diverse crop of designers doing everything
from wedding gowns to painstakingly detailed art-piece corsets.
Outside of Portland Fashion Week, there are two not-to-miss shows
coinciding (but thankfully not conflicting) with the main event. The
first is “The Procession,” a collaborative presentation by Dayna
Pinkham’s Pinkham Millinery, who is creating showpiece hats to
complement ensembles from some of Portland’s most wildly creative and
seminal apparel designers. To up the drama, the location of the Friday,
October 9, show is top secret—only those who RSVP will learn
where the show takes place. (I’ve been reassured that it will conclude
in plenty of time for those of us so inclined to make it out to the
Island for Friday’s installment of Fashion Week as well.)
The second event is a presentation of fall/winter collections from
Liza Rietz, Emily Ryan, and Modi Soondarotok’s Idom line, as well as a
retrospective of work by costumer and designer Fuchsia Lin, called
“Fashion Collective” on Monday, October 12. Lin’s inclusion is
particularly exciting, given that her fashion design has rarely been
seen in Portland, and together the quartet of designers comprise a
group of particularly modern and sculpturally innovative talents. The
fact that they are showing fall/winter designs seems like a comfort
after a blast of forward-thinking spring shows, too—the cozy
familiarity of the here and now? Perhaps, were it not for the
propensity of these artists to produce work that’s well ahead of
present-day convention.
Beginning with last month’s FUSE runway show, which combined fine
showings from Portland designers with the work of visiting Chinese
artists—part of a bourgeoning international partnership still in
formation—and extending into next week’s far-reaching Content
installation show at the Ace Hotel (see next week’s Mercury for
much more on that), this season in Portland fashion is long and varied,
with Fashion Week merely the nexus of a great swath of activity. The
Mercury will be covering it all, with photos and reviews in this
space and at mod.portlandmercury.com, in
addition to a steady diet of shopping news, gossip, and more—’til
then, I’ll see you at the shows.