After a Fashion

SRO! Beguiled, the Designers' Guild of Austin's second-ever presentation, held at the currently under-construction Design Center of Austin last Sunday, was a smash. The Design Center offered a perfect venue, with wide-open spaces that combined the best of the old and new. In the foyer, Laura Maclay showed her hand-painted and embroidered bags, accompanied by the works of Cindy Crowe and Joy Standefer in a dazzling display created by the incredibly gracious Steve Wiman and D'Ette Cole of Uncommon Objects. Crowe's hand-painted vintage bags are smart and streetwise, and could practically go out on their own at night, and Standefer's jewelry runs the gamut from delicate to dramatic. It was a great way to show off accessories that might not be seen on the runway.

Judy Masliyah opened the show, presenting a collection combining her sense of historical drama with a sharp eye for contemporary styling. Her Edwardian-influenced shapes were composed of unexpected fabrics that made them totally modern. The make-up and styling was provided by the fabulous team from Avant, who did a knockout job of making Masliyah's clothes come alive on the runway.

Levi Palmer for Leviticus paid a tribute to Cabaret with his new collection. Palmer's presentation was sassy and funny, and his well-rehearsed models were groomed by the crew from Wet Salon. (Thanks, Crystal!)

The success of restyled vintage wear has proven to Brooke Carter, of Search & Destroy, that what she's been doing all along is exactly right. Carter has a deft hand in transforming each piece, and her strength is in the way she combines the pieces. Her models were confident and strong, and the styling by Deborah, Farah, and Amanda from Pink Salon, was very forward, yet sophisticated and sexy.

Bonnie Barton and Melanie Beckett for Fragment of i favor clean, modern lines with a minimum of fussiness, and their enthusiasm is boundless. Though there wasn't much sense of cohesiveness to the collection, individual pieces, like their appliqued skirts, would fly off the rack in any store. Styling was by the wonderful Innu Salon.

Leather and feathers seemed to be the theme for Jyl Kutsche's new collection for Therapy. Always using great models, Kutsche's point of view is a streamlined version of contemporary glamour, but it was the make-up to die for by Mandy Wright at Ann Kelso that stole the segment. Lovely and exotic, with long feather eyelashes, the beauties were styled by Leeann Vo, also from Ann Kelso.

This is the part where I have to talk about my friend, Gail Chovan. I know … you hear about her a lot in my column, but is it just because she's my friend? Hell, no. It's because her inimitable sense of style is breathtaking. When she applies that sense of style to dress design, the results are staggering: sometimes outré, sometimes shocking, but always exquisitely beautiful. And, believe me, it was a very hard sell to get me to believe that dresses made of silk chiffon and utility muslin, with ragged and frayed seams and hems, were going to be pretty. But like an enchantress casting her spell, Chovan made magic out of a very peculiar approach. From body-hugging gowns, ruched and wrapped obi-like with wide sashes, to the billowing and bobbing of the hoops and crinolines, the collection was every bit as good as those from the Belgian designers that Chovan idolizes. But the dresses are only part of the story. Chovan's models are always wonderful -- and often as unexpected as the styles are. Denia Ridley and Eva Anoma are my favorite models on Earth right now; their feline magnificence screams to be unleashed upon the entire world. Brian Herbert of Salon Herve styled the models' hair. Omigod, the guy is simply brilliant. The confections, ratted and piled and stuck with twigs, moss, and birds' nests, may sound bizarre, but were pure genius -- amazingly artistic creations that took an ordinary stable of stunning women and turned them into fantasy creatures, like denizens of some enchanted woodland, or the lush beauties in a Mucha poster. Truly spectacular. Kathy Miller of Maximum FX engineered the make-up, which complemented the hair perfectly, making for a drop-dead fabulous presentation.

SHOWTIME Tonight, Thursday, April 26, 8pm, brings us the annual UT Fashion Spectacular. Admission is free. Wednesday, May 2, is the Club DeVille Spring Fashion Extravaganza. Fasten your seat belts and hold onto your hats. Tickets available at Club DeVille.