Whew! Today I am tired and I am sure many, many others are too. The Portland Mercury Open Season fashion show was a big success! It was a sold out show, and while I was backstage the whole time, I hear that people were jammed in there, pressed up against the runway, all to see Portland’s top designers.
This is a view of the runway from backstage at about 3pm. No crowds, no nothing…yet. For a show that starts at 8:30, the preparation started at 1pm. It really took about 7 hours of labor on the part of hair and makeup to get each designer their desired looks.
Even with a breaker tripped and in pitch-blackness, makeup kept right on working with the assistance of Model, Katya’s iPhone! Awesome!
Here at least 9 models wait for either hair or makeup. This doesn’t count all the models that were currently in hair and makeup. Kudos to 220 Salon and Event Cosmetics for extremely friendly, professional and highly organized execution. I don’t know how many models they had to style, but it was easily 50 with a 14 designer line-up.
You are looking at the line-up of what amounted to a mega-show. Most are familiar faces in the design community, but there are a few that are new to the scene. It was a pleasure to chat with my fellow designers and see what they are up to. So, spending 7 hours backstage was work, for sure, but I also had a lot of fun socializing and goofing around. As you can see, the show culminated with collections of three Project Runway winners. It is a source of pride and “proof in the pudding,” so to speak, that the design community here is talented and thriving. We know it, but slowly, the rest of world is catching on.
Then there is Kyja. Those familiar with the shop certainly know her, but not everyone knows how hard she works and that she literally keeps my shit together! She is the manager at the Isaac Hers store, my right hand, and last night, my coordinator, my dresser and my friend. Thank you for your hard work and loyalty!
What a bunch of goofballs. Here 3 of my models goof around backstage in various stages of hair and makeup. You might recognize Cora, on the right, who also works at the shop. On top of being beautiful, she is hella fun and really sweet. Love her too!! The other models are Meaghan and Kristina. They are really a bunch of cut ups. I simply cannot repeat the conversation at this point, but let’s just say that it was “ranchy” (that is not a typo).
I showed the spring collection and the inspiration was “doomsday.” The girls had to look like they just survived an atomic bomb, yet HOT at the same time. I think hair and makeup nailed it, don’t you. This is beautiful Katie.
Here are a few models, Kristina, Katie and Dayna, and myself ready for showtime. It was about this point that I stopped taking pictures because my battery was running low. Just about everything went smoothly. Congratulations to my fellow designers and a big thanks to the Marjorie Skinner and her team at the Portland Mercury for a great show and a great time!! Hope to have some runway pictures soon. Stay tuned…
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