By Sarah DeYoung, News Correspondent.
Flashing lights, models striking pose after pose at the end of a runway and the constant click of a camera is what most people envision when thinking of fashion week. During the week of Sept. 23-30, that vision will be a reality in Boston.
This year, for the first time, Boston Fashion Week will have a centralized location in the form of a 3,000 square-foot tent that will be located in an existing garden space between The Shops at Prudential Center and Mandarin Oriental Boston, and will have a 40 foot catwalk and a backstage area, according to a press release.
Collections will be shown at “The Tent” in a few shows a day that all start between the hours of 5 and 9 p.m., Sept. 23-30. The shows will feature collections by 19 designers and retailers. Although some shows at The Tent are invitation only, there are plenty of fashion week events that are open to the public.
One fashion show anyone can attend is The Everything ENAMOUR Fashion Event, featuring collections by designer June Monteiro. The show will feature pieces from four of Monteiro’s collections, and will take place Sept. 24 with shows at 6 and 8 p.m. at the Bill Bordy Theater, at 216 Tremont St. Ticket prices range from $10-$20, depending on the seats.
Monteiro said she’s excited for the show, as it is ENAMOUR’s first fashion event.
“It’s always important to have the public come in,” she said. “[The collections] are really tasteful, a combination of what I’ve been up to over the years.”
A look into fashion during wartime entitled “Beauty as Duty: Textiles and the Home Front in WWII Britain” will be on display at the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) Oct. 8 through May 28, 2012. The exhibit focuses on 1940s British fashion, when people mostly wore “utility” clothes that had to adhere to government regulations. Admission to the MFA is always free with a Husky Card.
Alex Huff, curatorial planning and project manager in the MFA’s Textile and Fashion Arts Department said in a press release that the exhibit focuses on women’s clothing.
“These scarves and dresses were a colorful response to those austerity measures and ultimately served a propagandistic, morale-building purpose,” Huff said.
Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt) has created a “Wearable Art Exhibit,” featuring 30 non-textile ensembles designed by MassArt fashion students challenging the idea that clothing must be made out of fabric. Ensembles are made from materials ranging from Chinese takeout cartons to straws.
The 30 outfits on display were chosen from over 200 designs created by MassArt students by Professor Jayne Avery, exhibit curator. It will be on display Sept. 18 to Oct. 9 at the Burlington Mall. Burlington can be reached via public transit by taking the 350 bus from the Alewife T station.
Environmentally conscious fashionistas may be interested in “Fashion and Sustainability,” a free lecture that is part of MassArt’s Thursday Night Lecture Series Sept. 22 at 6:30 p.m. in the Trustees Room in the Tower Building at MassArt, located at 621 Huntington Ave. Jennifer Varekamp, an Associate Professor of fashion design at MassArt, will give the lecture, which she said will focus on sustainable practices in fashion.
“Many non-profit organizations are now offering certification for fashion companies that employ sustainable practices, making it more visible to the consumer that they are buying products that have standards in place,” Varekamp said. “[Some practices include] making fabrics from recycled plastic bottles and using less toxic dyes.”
For the full schedule of Boston Fashion Week Events, visit www.bostonfashion.com.
