By Diana Cavagnaro | Downtown News
Spreading Fortune
Fortune Industries has been spreading “a fortune of love and life” for seven years. They celebrated their seventh birthday with family and friends on April 21S t at the top of Stingaree Nightclub, with an evening of fashion and music. Jason Herrick and Errol Asuncion, members of their Fortune 421 clothing line family, greeted everyone.
The event featured an interactive fashion display that really steamed up the rooftop oasis. Fortune 421 swimwear designer, Cristina Alanis, was on hand to show off the new swimwear collection. Fortune 421 teamed up with Fowler’s Boutique for this fashion event. Michael Lee and Jeremy Harris from A Style Concierge provided hair and makeup for the models. DJ’s Thereon & Decoy took turns rocking the house with tunes.
A portion of the proceeds went to Stand up For Kids, a program that is helping end the cycle of youth homelessness and also assists other at-risk youth. For more information visit: StandupforKids.org.
Global Infusion
The San Diego Mesa College Fashion program presented its 31st Annual Golden Scissors Fashion Show and Awards Gala on May 11, 2012, with the theme Global Infusion. Professors Andrea Marx and Susan Lazear welcomed the crowd.
The first segment began with the guest alumni designer, Erick Estrada. Estrada has teamed up with Melissa Story to form the company Filth & Diamonds, which specializes in eco-friendly graphic knit garments made in the U.S.A.
The audience was delighted with the Children’s Wear section, which received a tremendous response as they came down the runway. President Pamela T. Luster and various deans from Mesa College modeled hats from the millinery class. A crowd favorite was the Retro Redo, where students designed garments from non-fabric materials. The finale of the fashion show was the much anticipated student collections.
The Fashion Promotion class produced the Golden Scissor Fashion Show along with help from the multimedia students and San Diego City College cosmetology students who did hair and make-up. Luster handed out the following awards:
The 1S t Place winners were: Trilainna Stanton (Millinery), Emilio Saldana (Day Wear), Juhee Miller (Career Wear), Amy Aguirre Club Wear), Stephanie Castro (Special Occasion Wear), Eva Cadena (Evening Wear), Rachel Miles (Retro Redo), Sarah Davidson (Fantasy), Marcia Silva (Collections), and Emilio Saldana received the Rising Star Award. This year Fashion Supplies, Inc., also gave a dress award to Juhee Miller (Best Workmanship) and Eva Cadena (Most Creative). San Diego Mesa College has associate degrees in Fashion Design, Fashion Merchandising, and Fashion Technology. For more information, call 619-388-2206.
Hooray For Dita xx
Dita Von Teese began her “Strip Strip Hooray” tour in San Diego at the House of Blues on May 14 and 15 with Live Nation. Dita has performed for celebrities all over the world such as Luis Vuitton, Cartier and Marc Jacobs. Most recently she performed for Gaultier in San Francisco and Loubetin in London. Von Teese, the muse for the Cointreau brand, has topped the best-dressed lists all around the world and has been credited with bringing back old Hollywood glamour.
Von Teese has as many female fans as male, because burlesque glorifies beauty. The performance was a 90-minute revue with other burlesque performers, such as Dirty Martini and Catherine D’Lish with Murray Hill as master of ceremonies. This international queen of burlesque performed four routines for the audience. The shows featured ornate sets and elaborate costumes which ranged in price from $100k-$150k. The first number was her famous Martini Glass, covered with Swarovski crystals. The second act was her cowgirl routine with a mechanical bull. In the next scene, Von Teese wowed the audience when she came out of a huge compact in ballet slippers, dancing on point.
The finale was one of Dita’s favorite shows: the Opium Den. This exotic number took three years to complete and her extravagant costume design took 12 people and used 500,000 rhinestones. The set and costumes were awesome. Having a show that is this master-catfted was a real coup for San Diego. If you missed this incredible show, check out Dita’s VonTeese’s West Coast tour schedule to see her on its next stop: www.ditavonteese.com.
Diana Cavagnaro es una diseñadora de sombreros y sombrerera reconocida a nivel nacional, y ha estado en el negocio de la moda durante 30 años. Los últimos 20 de esos años operó su negocio desde el histórico Gaslamp Quarter del centro de San Diego, mientras trabajaba como pluriempleo en el departamento de moda de San Diego Mesa College. Ella puede ser contactada en [email protected].