EDITION #43

Fashion World Unrelated to Real One

Walking into the tented entrance of SAIC’s THE WALK felt stepping off the rainy downtown street into another dimension. Maybe we picked the wrong art world to focus on? This was unlike anY “opening” we’d been to before. There were like 6 different types of hors d’oeuvres, multiple bars with at least not the cheapest wine option, and, shockingly, people both above AND below 26.5 years of age.

We saw a woman wearing a beak on her face like it was no big deal, and all levels of over done. In this overdressed scene, the opening performance by Claudia Hart felt lackluster, especially at the beginning when the dancer closest to me was off her mark, ruining the projection illusion. We were into the concept: put voguing dancers in wild cutout outfits that serve as projection screens, but it somehow fell flat.

Fortunately the eleganza returned for the student presentations. Sophomore presentations, while restricted to a single piece with white and gold coloring, certainly ranked amongst the most exciting offerings of the evening. While we are impressed with pretty much anyone who can thread a needle, we have to say that Kellia Yao, Michel ‘Le Forrest, Yalin Zhao and Dave Klibanoff (who’s face garment seemed to totally disregard the palate) made us the most excited for 2017’s show.

If you were looking for a capsule collection, THE WALK is certainly not the place. The Swarovski crystal accents were about the most casual part of the show (and that’s to say, not casual at all). The juniors were just as over the top and Mady Berry’s gigantic cactus knitwear complete with fur draping and a flower on top pretty much stole the show. Franky Tran’s train with two male attendants was a cherry on top. From our seat in the back of the tent it was hard to see the details of the designs, but we knew when the audience was pleased by polite applause and literal oo’s and ahh’s coming from the front rows.

Finally, it was time for the main event. No, not the post-show snacks (though we’ll get to that), the senior presentations. Really there were just two collections that really gave us life. Kaleigh Moynihan’s collection, Davinia Francois, was hands down my favorite. From the first note of “Tip toe through the tulips,” you could tell it was going to be something else. And it was. Aside from showing a strong vision, Moynihan was the only student to use her own models, breaking the “walking stick” template and using real people of various shapes and sizes, including one model who was completely swallowed by a garment that appeared to have wheels or be robotic. The gender bending of the garments was effortless, unlike her colleague Carly Callis, whose blonde wigs seemed forced and awkward. Most importantly, as artist/model Amina Ross and the other likely artists on stage ‘tiptoed,’ they genuinely appeared to be having fun. The boob pockets, the “I don’t know” cape, the floral pasties, I could go on.

The only other senior to really make me swoon was Fransisco Gonzalez. His Clairvoyance collection was equal parts space sportswear and Mickey Mouse. The fact that I’m from Florida might have something to do with my affinity for the mouse, but the way Gonzalez wove the characters into the not-quite ready-to-wear pieces in his collection felt like something we would totally try to pull off.

After the last presentation, and the real Diane Pernet was presented a “Legend of Fashion” award, the entire tent moved across the street to the Harris theater for a reception where you could see a creepy Pernet’s effigy designed by local drag queen, Jojo Baby (who was looking quite dapper and carried a Pernet Barbie-sized doll). The reception was nothing if not elaborate. I gagged over Moynihan’s models and tried to work up the courage to talk to the young designer with daises in her hair, while spraying down my sushi with perfume bottles full of soy sauce (least practical vessel). I sampled the “couture eggs” (weird) and ate endless dumplings while trying to balance my dirty martini (the bartender had said, “I hope you like it straight up”).

To be fair, it was a fundraiser to support student work and scholarships at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Regardless, it was shame to have to leave the fashion world for the real one.

If you wanted a spot on recap of the best of the fashion show, you’re in the wrong place. Check out Isa’s “Best of” for the Reader.

Reading is Fundamental

Think of this as your month in review.

• Now Here, Here Now
  Eric Asobe on being connected virtually and physically to the world of art and art in the world. With a dash of summer thrown in for good measure.
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• MarKEt/Foward and Nikki Johnson at the Pfister Hotel
  Sid Branca’s long-awaited recap on the MarKEt/Foward is an outsiders view of an insiders symposium.
• 
• Studies of Exhaustion
  Jacob Wick continues to interrogate what he finds phony, this time intertwined with Filipídicas, Vega Macotela’s first solo show at Galería Labor in Mexico City. Find out why Wick believes Macotela’s exhibition is a “step in the right direction.”
• Window Shoppers
  Erin Leland has the most interesting conversations. Eavesdrop on her and curator, Andrew Blackley’s, afternoon of window shopping that merges seamlessly into Blackley’s work on Keith Haring and Felix Gonzalez-Torres.
• 
• Paris on the Prairie: Part I
  The Ladies Almanack has taken up residence on our blog as they prepare to begin the second phase of shooting in Chicago. Find out more about the project here and look for more updates throughout the month of June.

T around Town

It’s Spring and Chicago is awakening! The warmth is warming the ‘lil ‘ol Florida girl’s ice heart. So much happened this past month, check out what you missed below!