night six of Denver Fashion Week (DFW) transforms the Forney Museum of Transportation to a creative cultural gathering showcasing sustainable fashion from local vintage retailers and designers. Sustainable fashion continues to be a growing and necessary movement in the fashion industry. Its culture is thriving and is a niche part of the fashion community with a Mission to drive change and encourage the industry towards greater environmental integrity and social justice.
Saturday night’s show rallied an eager and devoted audience with a commitment aligned to the same mission. With an eye for detail and innovative designs, these inventive designers and vendors excel inspired the DFW crowd to engage in more sustainable practices and embrace their individual style.
get up first, goulosh garments presented a collection that reflected the urban clothing and zeitgeist of the 90s. designers Roller James including mix-print denim, puffer vests and mesh details in all looks. These streetwear pieces also included colorful embroidery featuring James’ “gulosh” logo, detailed on the bodice of a denim mini dress and on the back of his oversized denim jackets.
Hot Pink Matter next took the DFW stage with romantic silhouettes and Eurocentric prints. A mix of prêt-à-porter and avant-garde pieces were beautifully presented by models adorned with beaded embellishments throughout their hair and makeup. These modern renaissance pieces were brought to life with economical fabrics and sustainable materials, which shows used materials can be turned into a work of art. designers Audra Stachnik incorporated corsets into their designs and combined vintage with current trends. Fabrics such as velvet, satin and fur, perfectly combined with Stachnik’s gold, blue, pink and purple color palette, seamlessly complemented the romantic themes.
READ: Meet 6 sustainable designers exhibiting at Denver Fashion Week
Lost Room collective brought the early 2000s onto the DFW stage with their chic fabrics and neutral tones. With individuality in mind, these distinctive designs are brought to life through unique silhouettes and structured details. Backstage, co-founder Bella Conte shared by Lost Room Collective:
“I feel like the fast fashion industry is getting overwhelmed with finding the next trend rather than finding your own unique style – we want to inspire people to be bold and work to be unique .”
Throughout the show, her looks included asymmetric slip dresses, preppy matching sets and rhinestone embellishments.
Next, a consignment store with boutiques and designer brands for men and women, rags took the stage with carefully curated pieces reminiscent of the 70s. Each look was paired with checked and structured garments such as blazers or denim suits. Brown leather jackets and pants were featured throughout the show, setting a new trend for spring and summer fashion. Light hues such as blue and orange were also a consistent theme throughout each look, tastefully complementing the collection’s neutral color palette. Total rags turned out to be classic, timeless looks that can be worn on any occasion.
TAHIRA took over the second half of the show with a collection of stunning cocktail hour statement pieces. Models floated down a catwalk in earth-toned garments embellished with button detailing, lace detailing and floral motifs on sheer satin fabrics. The collection then switched to bright pops of color like pink and deep blue, making these pieces perfect for spring.
February Jones Presents: The Common Collective conquered audiences with their fun and pop culture oriented designs. Throughout the show, these bright looks and use of patchwork and mixed prints transformed everyday essentials into individualistic looks. To capture the fun and flair of spring and summer, the models walked the runway with lollipops as an accessory to their edgy outfits. The Common Collective brought the ’70s Malibu Barbie feel to the fore with a gorgeous array of bright colors and unique prints, inspiring some key takeaways and trends: quilted pants are in and polka dots are back.
Our last artist killionaire dedicated this collection to his South African roots and the beauty of “turning nothing into something”. We found a designer backstage Moses Kisale with a table made out of upcycled denim and a sewing machine hand perfecting every look before they hit the stage. Throughout the show, Kisale has used graffiti print denim, bold colors and a militant, fitted texture for these edgy street style looks. With all the upcycled fabrics, Killionaire’s handmade grunge pieces were the perfect way to end Sustainability Night at Denver Fashion Week.
All photographs by Roxanna Carrasco.
Stay tuned here for full galleries including runway looks, street style and step and repeat photos.