Fashion Week San Diego has good news to share with the community. They decided the show must go on and scheduled a series of virtual runway shows.
Gwen Bates has taken over the helm as the new director, from the founder Allison Andrews, and is planning events all year long. The eight designers selected this year are: luxurious designs by Bea Cruz PH, Colombian fashion designer Gloria, Avant-Garde Couture by Kelly Leanne Apparel Designs (KLA), L Label Loves Emvee Bikinis, L’Atelier Couture by Olivia Romero, Custom Made and Built to Belong by REFORM, Technical Designer Sierra Mitchell, Croatian born designer Dijana Fiorentino with the Scheherazade Collection, and VaughnBerry.
Last week they had an FWSD virtual runway show featuring VaughnBerry. This live virtual show was in a warehouse at the Luz Loft in Little Italy. They showed floral metallic boyfriend and girlfriend bomber jackets with matching fashion masks. Another look was a white lattice bomber jacket for boyfriends and girlfriends with matching fashion masks. The next virtual fashion show in the series will be in June and will feature Dijana Fiorentino from Scheherazade Fashion.
The first free Zoom workshop was with special guest Mercedes Gonzales, who is a New York-based expert industry global purchaser. This week, they presented an FWSD Zoom series featuring Anna Crowe who is the founder and CEO of Crowe PR. She discussed the PR tips and tricks for the fashion industry.
The Zoom fashion series will continue with Knobbe Martens, which will be presented at noon on June 4. They will be featuring special guests Jason Jardine, Loni Morrow, David O-Hair, Radhika Raman, and Jeff van Hoosear from the Intellectual Property Law Firm.
One of the new events coming up is FWSD Art & Beauty behind Fashion @ Sotheby’s in NYC in partnership with The Art Renewal. This collaboration will showcase the eight designers who will use inspiration from paintings from around the world to create their designs. Sotheby’s will showcase eight paintings having the artist’s interpretation of their inspiration at the event.
FWSD has set up an additional series of fashion Zoom events. Look for tutorials from the beauty team on hair and make-up. There will be free sewing classes given by the designers. Some of the designers helped facilitate donations of 600 masks to Rady’s Children’s Hospital, ScrippsHealth, and military bases.
I asked Gwen Bates to tell us about herself and she said: “I am a native to San Diego and no stranger to the fashion industry. I have embarked upon this new journey as the new director to build onto the outstanding organization founder Allison Andrews started in 2007. I am excited for what the year has in store and am expecting much success and creativity this year.”
FWSD2020 Designer Runway Shows will have a live runway show on Oct. 17 at 6 p.m. Guests can attend the event at the Luz Loft in little Italy or can have the option to watch it virtually at home. On Oct. 18 there will be a trunk show with the designers and Fashion Awards presented. Stay tuned for all the dates and times by visiting fashionweeksd.com
Diana Cavagnaro is an internationally renowned Couture Milliner based in San Diego. Learn more about our hat designer, teacher, and blogger at www.DianaCavagnaro.com.
