The Designers
Meet the Designers!
The West 18th Street Fashion Show features eighteen collections showcasing the best in cutting-edge fashion design. Each year, dozens of designers apply for the opportunity to show their collections on the 18th Street runway, and only eighteen are chosen.
Clothing Designers
birdies
Partnering muted embroidery and leather framed gradient dyed silk fringe, Peregrine Honig and Danielle Meister pull inspiration from the architecture and Arabesque patterns of Andalusia. With hems mimicking these epic doorways, expect Islamic lines and a Moroccan palate. Accessories by Erica Voetsch will include silver cast geodes and delicately hammered bracelets and anklets.
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Web: http://birdiespanties.com/
Lindsay Rae Miller
Originally from Weston, Mo., Lindsay is currently based in Westport/ Kansas City, Mo and works as a merchandiser for Design Resources, successfully managing the design and production of a men's life style brand. Lindsay graduated from Stephens College with a BA in Fashion Design and Product Development, and, in addition to her studies, she completed several internships including Marie Claire Magazine, New York, New York; XMen-II, Costume Design, Los Angeles, California; Kansas City Art Institute Winter Session, teaching assistant to Tracy Krum; Surface Design Fashion Shows: "Transgress and Transformation" and "In Flight" assistant production manager to Jocelyn Himes. She lists John Galliano as a favorite designer, and describes her design style as feminine, fun, and flirty. Her designs for Summer in Spain are influenced by Spanish artist Joan Miro who was overwhelmed by the spectacle of the immense sky, huge empty spaces, vast landscapes, and anything bare. She will attempt to honor that concept with simple silhouettes, imagining the garment as a luminous Spanish landscape. Her designs will enhance the woman's figure, while remaining flirty and sensual, much like the Spanish Flamenco style.
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Nataliya Meyer
Nataliya comes to us all the way from Ukraine, but now lives in Kansas City and has been a West 18th Street designer for several years. While in the Ukraine, Nataliya completed studies in tailoring, pattern-making, fashion design and calligraphy. She is now an established full-time designer in Kansas City who runs her own clothing line, Oblivion Clothing. Her design inspirations range from Jan Van Ike, Dior and John Galliano to politics, religion, men, art and movies. For Summer in Spain, Nataliya is focusing on the beauty, passion, dance and bullfighting of Spain. Her colors will be vibrant with bold shapes and ruffles.
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Web: http://www.nataliyameyer.com
Spool Boutique
Spool is a locally owned and operated boutique on West 18th Street in the Crossroads district of Kansas City, Missouri. Spool features local designers, emerging artists, vintage apparel/accessories and independent labels all squeezed into about 100 adorable square feet! Voted Best Alternative to Urban Outfitters and Best Baby Boutique in the Pitch Weekly Best Of's edition. Featured in Eat.Shop.Kansas City, the New York Times travel edition KC, Airways Magazine, Nylon Magazine and then some! Designers this year are Beth Guinta, Bread and Butter and Simple Culture, with Jewelry by Handsome Woman Jewelry.
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Web: http://www.facebook.com/spoolkansascity
Twitter: @SpoolKC
Cheryl Eve with Nicky Janzen
Cheryl Eve was born and raised on the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico. She has been designing jewelry from an early age and left the country to pursue her MFA at the Rhode Island School of Design. She currently resides in the crossroad district of Kansas City, Missouri as a full-time artist and instructor, leading regular jewelry classes at her studio. Her work is inspired by nature, especially by morphological forms found in the ocean such as corals, algae and other marine life and defines her art as being elegantly provocateur and modern. Inspired from the armored metal work worn by Spanish conquistadores, Cheryl Eve will incorporate metal breastplates or algae-looking bustiers, capturing the feminine version of contemporary body armor. Cheryl will be working in collaboration with tailor, Nicky Janzen, for their Summer in Spain collection.
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Web: http://www.cheryleve.com http://www.snick.biz
Twitter: @Cheryl_Eve_
Tricia Rock
Tricia is a completely self-taught designer who lives and works in Lawrence, Kansas. Though she had always manipulated her own clothing, while in college she began participating in local Lawrence fashion shows, designing and styling. Though her inspirations change daily, currently her favorite designers include Raf Simons for Jil Sander, Thomas Tait, Consuelo Castiglioni for Marni, Jonny Johansson for Acne, Rodarte, and Marco Zanini for Rochas. Her designs utilize all reclaimed fabrics to create pieces that are modern and minimal with a focus on color. For Summer in Spain, she plans to create a collection that evokes the natural feel of rural Spain. With touches of traditional spanish dress, her collection will feature natural fabrics, a gradient of bold colors, layering and ruffles. Tricia is also a fashion writer for The Rathaus.
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Web: http://www.therathaus.com
Kaylin Hertel
Kaylin is originally from Kansas City and is currently based in Lawrence, Kansas. Having received a BFA in Design/Metalsmithing from the University of Kansas, her first passion is for creating jewelry, though she has been designing clothing for the past three years. Special achievements include an Internship at Marie Claire Magazine in NYC, multiple exhibitions in galleries around the country and internationally, published in Lark Books, and her work is currently selling at Albertine General, a wonderful jewelry boutique in New York City. She is inspired by designers Christine J. Brandt, Sandra Backlund, and Marlies Dekkers; and describes her own work as innovative, meticulous, and bold. For this year's collection, Kaylin plans to create both jewelry and clothing to reflect Spain's period of great wealth and leisure. Inspired by the Moorish architecture in southern Spain, the clothing and jewelry will exhibit repititious patterns, geometry, and elaborate details that are characteristic to this Moorish style.
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Web: http://www.kaylinhertel.com
Maegan Stracy
Joining us for the second year in a row, Maegan is currently a junior at the Kansas City Art Institute majoring in Fibers. Her most recent show was a pop-up shop featuring her designs in the Kreuzberg quarter of Berlin, Germany. Her design influences include Basso and Brooke, Manish Arora, Gareth Pugh and Hussein Chalayan. When Maegan designs clothing, she likes to use bright vivid colors paired with structured designs. For Summer in Spain, she plans to combine the spirit of the Carnival festival with ready to wear garments with the intent of making fun, youthful, sculptural garments that are tailored to the confident woman.
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Web: http://www.maeganstracy.com
Yulie Urano
Overland Park, Kansas native, Yulie Urano, is currently attending the Kansas City Art Institute. There she has taken clothing construction classes led by West 18th Street Fashion Show veteran and internationally acclaimed artist, Peggy Noland, and has studied hand knitting and machine knitting. She lists her favorite designers as Craig Lawrence, Sandra Backlund, Yayoi Kusama, and Yoshikazu YamagataI. She describes her design style as sculptural and intuitive, and says it "comes alive when worn by the right person." For Summer in Spain, Yulie will be using bold primary colors accentuated by exaggerated ruffles and floral features. Her intention is to push the conventional boundaries of knitting through an investigation of pattern, structure, and form. She wants to show Kansas City the possibilities of the knit.
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Web: http://www.yulieurano.com
Blog: http://www.scallopscallop.blogspot.com
Eli Borrowman
Eli is a graduate of the Kansas City Art Institute, she received an MFA from Northwestern University in Chicago, and she is currently an artist and designer working and living in Chicago. She teaches foundation arts and sewing construction at the Illinois Institute of Art in Schaumburg, IL. Her work and clothing is inspired by her obsession with personal narrative, how she can create an identity through the materials that she puts on her body, the need for more bright colors and patterns in our visual landscape, art and fashion history, and the tradition of sewing fostered by her mother, grandmother, and all the women in her family. For Summer in Spain, Eli describes her collection thusly, "My designs for this theme are inspired by the traditional activities from the culture of Spain. I was specifically looking at bullfighting, Tomatina (tomato fights), and flamenco dancers. My work is always seeping with personal narrative and I feel that is important for me as a designer and an artist to include some part of me in all the projects I do. Here I am interested in blending in my own mid-western heritage that I reference through the quilted sections. Quilting has a rich background rooted in tradition and family and these roots are what keep it living. I believe that these same qualities are what keep Spain’s traditions alive."
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Web: http://www.eliborrowman.com
Blog: http://eliborrowman.blogspot.com
Tara Kloeppel
Tara grew up on a Missouri farm, but this recent UMKC graduate now happily resides in Kansas City. Tara is self-taught at sewing and designing and is currently enrolled in a clothing construction class.
She finds her inspiration for fashion design by studying the masters. The daring designs of Marc Jacobs, Riccardo Tisci, and the late, great Alexander McQueen always remind her to push harder to create more meaningful, beautiful garments; whereas designers like Jil Sander and Hannah MacGibbon remind her to design with a real woman in mind. She describes her style as eclectic traditionalism. Tara's designs for Summer in Spain are centered around a bull motif she created, with a sprinkle of Catholicism for good measure. Tara is hoping to have a bright future in the fashion industry.
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Web: http://www.tarakloeppel.com
Tonia Barksdale
Kansas City native Tonia began designing clothes under the label Cardinal in 2006. Prior to starting a fashion business, she was a journalism student at MU. Tonia has drawn great inspiration from her costuming internship with the Kansas City Ballet, style blogs, working at a garment factory, and from her work with fine art at Ward and Ward Custom Picture Framing.
Tonia describes her style as modern, off-beat, fun, sometimes sexy, sometimes graceful, kinda strange-in-a-cool-way, flattering, strongly vintage inspired, conceptual & chic. For Summer in Spain, Tonia was inspired by the story of Gerda Taro, one of the first female photo journalists to cover war from the front lines, and die while doing so. She was killed in the summer of 1937, during the Spanish Civil War. The collection is all about bold color and huge, dashing shapes.
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Web: http://www.cardinalcouture.com
Twitter: @cardinalcouture
Blog: http://www.saturdaynightstyle.blogspot.com
Chi Hiu Yim
Chi Hiu believes that our background influences how we see the world, which in turn influences us as people and as designers. She grew up in Hong Kong, a place with a unique assembly of cultures. She moved to the United States at age 18. Chi Hiu currently works as an art director at a local digital interactive company. She believes that design has no certain discipline; they all relate to one another. Her goal for the future is to incorporate graphic design and performance art into fashion design. She thinks that a collection with concept or statement is a lot more enlightening than just merely showing aesthetic designs. She has won several AIGA design awards, and was the grand prize winner in eBay's LookBook Contest 2010. Her primary design influences are Tibor Kalman and Hussein Chalayan.
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Web: http://cargocollective.com/chihiudesign
Twitter: @yimchihiu
Katie Coble & Jennifer Hunt
Katie Coble (Kansas City) and Jennifer Hunt (Lawrence, Kan.) are collaborating to present a collection that is inspired by the presence of accessible street art in everyday life in Barcelona. They took inspiration from the aesthetics and energy of Las Ramblas, Park Guell, and Market la Boqueria. With Katie constructing the garments and Jennifer creating all fabric designs, their collection will result in a harmonious event that includes hand made, one of a kind prints and interactive sculptural design elements. The garments' shifts will reveal levels of pattern depth that reflect both the architecture and the energy of Barcelona streets.
Katie is a recent Fibers Graduate of Maryland Institute College of Art with a concentration in Experimental Fashion; Jennifer has studied at the Maryland Institute College of Art, Fashion Institute of Technology (Textile Design), and is currently enrolled at the University of Kansas (Textile Design).
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Web: http://www.flavors.me/jenniferhunt
Dominique Karwoski & Steven Chau
Educated at KCAI, Dominique has been a professional tailer for five years and is currently working at Halls on the Plaza. Steven is a St. Louis native who has lived in Kansas City for the past several years working as a computer developer who has been designing layouts for both print and web. Steven is a self-taught designer through studying multiple design resources and attending conferences. They derive their design influences from 1950's classic style, futuristic, and well-tailored clothing. E-textiles designs by Mortiz Waldemeyer , Allison Lewis, and Syuzi Pakhchyan. Their design inspiration includes Prada and early explorations. The collection by Dominique and Steven is a 50's tailored look with a retro-futuristic style. The delicious wine punch that is sangria serves as the color palette. It expresses the warm fiery passion between two dancers interlocked in tango.
Hair design will be provided by Anita Graves of Salon Kismet in Westport.
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Web: http://www.karwoska.com
Twitter: @karwoska @whereisciao
Michael Wiehe
Michael Wiehe is a newcomer to the Kansas City fashion scene with an incredible attention to detail and a talent for crochet. Michael hails from Columbia, Missouri, but currently resides in Kansas City Missouri. He learned to sew from his mother, and credits his design influences as Hadley Johnson (one of the original producers of the West 18th Street Fashion Show, a recent graduate of Parson's Paris, and his current mentor) and Valentino. Michael describes his design style as simple and pretty, and will draw inspiration for his collection from Pablo Picasso's most famous mistress Marie Therese Walter.
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Twitter: @wiehe182
Christian Micheal
Kansas City native Christian Michael designs clothing for the modern American fashion forward man, with hints of classic and Victorian style. His design influences come from a passion for men's wear history and military uniform design, and he is inspired by the British tailors of the Bespoke Savile Row. His collection is based around the idea of a modern American fashion forward man who is traveling and summering in Spain. Christian Micheal is planning on a future in fashion with a wholesale men's wear design label sold at retailers across the nation which will include outerwear, blazers, dress shirts, slacks, shoes, and accessories.
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http://www.christianmicheal.com
ARI + FISH
Ari Fish (b. Ariadne Richardson Fish, June 18, 1983) is a 2006 graduate from the Kansas City Art Institute. Her art has been shown world wide in such varying mediums as ceramic installation, painting, fashion design, writing, film, costume design, drawing, television, and music. Often, her work contains themes of prayer, ceremony, universality, post-apocalypse, and ergonomic-consciousness. Artistic collaborations with Ari Fish include Whoop Dee Doo, Carnal Torpor, The Ssion, Chicks on Speed, Peaches, The Gossip, and Urban Noise Camp, etc. In 2008 she finished filming for Season Six of Project Runway as a contestant. She has written for Vice Magazine, and is currently developing articles for ReadyMade Magazine online, and works as a freelance writer on topics such as pop culture and fashion. In 2010, Fish received the prestigious Charlotte Street Visual Artist Award, along with a $10,000 grant and a show at GrandArts Kansas City alongside the two other award recipients. Fish continues to work on designs for her clothing company, Made in America by Ari Fish, while putting more focus on public art installation.
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Web: http://www.arifish.com
Twitter: @thearifish
Jewelry Designers
Coki Bijoux
Coki Bijoux will be working with clothing designer, Lindsay Rae Miller.
Coki began her formal study of jewelry making in Paris in 1990 while apprenticing under the independent “bijoutier” Thierry de Bourqueney. Her time with de Bourqueney taught the necessity of measurement and precision in jewelry making, while also using that as the foundation for creativity in design. Over the years her work has evolved from the strictly "bijoutier" style to include more organic, earthy elements that reflect her love of forms and objects found in nature. Her collection has expanded to encompass work with stones, wire and metal work, and beading. Says Coki, "In all my work, I try to create something that is unique and original to the person wearing it."
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Web: http://www.cokireardon.com
Erica Voetsch
Erica Voetsch will be working with clothing collection, Birdies.
Erica Voetsch, a Kansas City-based jewelry designer, received her BFA in Design/Metalsmithing from the University of Kansas. She draws creative inspiration from the intricate textures found in nature, and she focuses on creating jewelry that is both striking and engaging. In 2005 Erika designed a necklace that won an American Vision Award, (an award shared by Andy Warhol) which led to the opportunity to exhibit the piece in Diane von Furstenberg's private studio. In 2009 she studied design and traditional goldsmithing in Finland. The clean minimalism of Scandinavian design continues to inspire her style.
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Faith Evangeline - Evil Pawn Jewelry
Faith Evangeline will be working with clothing designer, Nataliya Meyer.
Evil Pawn Jewelry by master jeweler, Faith Evangeline, is a fusion of antique, vintage, goth, bohemian, old costume, and Native American Styles. Available in 38 Boutiques and online. Jewelry starting at everyday wearable to Runway Couture. Adorn Yourself in Metal.
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Web: http://www.evilpawnjewelry.com
Twitter: @EvilPawn
Deanna Burasco
Deanna Burasco will be working with clothing designer Dominique Karwoski & Steven Chau.
Deanna Burasco is a self-taught jewelry designer based in the Kansas City metro area. Drawing on her previous career in graphic design, she creates contemporary pieces from resin and a variety of other materials. Her work has been featured in the Kansas City Star Magazine and she is a featured artist in the book Create Your Own Resin Jewelry. Her designs can be found in a number of stores nationwide, as well as locally at NGBoutique in Westport, and at http://www.deanaburasco.com.
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Web: http://www.deannaburasco.com
Twitter: @deannaburasco
Blog: http://deannaburasco.blogspot.com