This year was IIDA’s third annual Product Runway fashion show held at the Henry Clay building was again benefiting Dress for Success. This is no ordinary fashion show, this unique showcase of clothing designs created of home and commercial interior materials took fashion to a whole new level. 17 amazingly crafted looks graced the runway to be judged on their creativity, vision, and craftsmanship.
With use of materials like wood paneling, leather, liquid metal, canvas, carpet, wall covering, vinyl flooring, and even air purification filters, these garments where anything but average. Beautiful gowns, short party styles, pant suits, and even retro flashbacks, their themes varied and covered a broad range of high fashions styles.
Amy Richardson, who participated and helped design and make one these amazing frocks partnered with the manufacturers rep of Bolyu carpet to create their look. To develop their choice of designs, they went through fashion magazines for inspiration and found that menswear for women was a huge trend at the moment and that not may of the other teams would do menswear. She and her team quickly figured out that tailoring carpet was not an easy task. But, like Tim Gunn (Project Runway) says, “make it work designers“. That is one major reason this event was so unique. Designers were challenged to think way outside the box.
The winning design was a stunning evening gown constructed of vinyl tile flooring, upholstery fabric, vinyl flooring welding rods.
Another favorite among the audience was called “Marilyn Anime Mash up”, which won the “Lady Gaga Award”. This ensemble was inspired by Japanese Anime, and was constructed entirely from commercial grade woven wall covering.
The fashion show wasn’t only a benefit, but a competition. The awards given that night were surely hard to decide, but they made the tough decision to award the following participants:
1st place: "Sleek Sophistication", Johnsonite & Deborah Drury Interior Design
2nd place: "Pan Am", Fashion Wall coverings & Hubbuch & Co
3rd place: "Queen of the Corporate Jungle", Shaw Contract Group & Studio ThreeSixty
The Gaga Award: "Marilyn Anime Mash Up", Carnegie & Swope Design Group
The DaVinci Award: "A Dress to Address Disaster", Teknion and OM Workspace & University of Kentucky College of Design
The Coco Chanel Award: "Form, Function and Fashion", Human scale & Thorpe Commercial Group
The Mother Nature Award: "Trees Really Do Grow Upside Down", Milliken & Constantine & Jill Slavinsky
