Review: Academy Of Art University Fall 2011 (Adventures in Fashion Week)

I had a fantastic time at the Academy of Art University show on last Friday. 
We were just wrapping up at the final session of the IFB conference (which was amazing as well, more on that to come!). When it ended, I and my dad (who was acting as my endearing escort for the week) dashed off to the Lincon center area. We met just inside an LDS Temple (which are beautiful and you should definitely check one out if you ever get a chance). Because I received two tickets from the school,  I chose to bring my good friend Inaam with me. We met up to have dinner, and after a rapid change of shoes (from our street flats and Doc Martens to some high heels) we were off! When we arrived at Lincon Center we both got pretty excited. I mean, it's an overload of chic people. As we were walking in, Inaam even got pulled aside and photographed by a street style photographer! She was totally working the "I'm more hipster then you" look. 

   We got in and surveyed the festivities going on. Then we grabbed some bottles of water and other useful items like notebooks with PR companies contact info in them, which will prove to be very useful come next season.
 Then we had to wait in lines for something like 20 min. Loads of pushing and shoving to get through. We finally got our seating assignments and sat down! I also saw Tony Wang of the awesome blog Post Fashionism, and I stopped to say a quick hello and I thanked him for coming to the IFB conference the day before. 

 We were about 6 rows back, because seats are determined by how soon you get in line. After a few minutes, I heard Inaam say "IS THAT MISS J?". Surly enough, it was miss J, who was swarmed by paparazzi. Another cool attendee was Patrick from Lauch My Line!

Finally, the cellophane came off the runway, and the lights went down. 

The collection I call my favorite was that of Jonathan David Baker. I can't even begin to tell you how perfect it was! It's not often that I want to purchase a garment right after seeing it on the runway, but I want his entire collection... NOW.  He played with black and white contrast, as well as huge knits, lightly (and beautifully done) pleated skirts, layers, long hemlines, and over-sized outerwear. My favorite piece was a fur coat (in the second picture). It was one of "ahhhh" moments and you could hear the crowd's reaction. I feel like the collection is very focused and the designer really has a point of view. 

Ahhh so perfect!

The next collection I really enjoyed seeing was that of Stephanie Gelot. Ms. Gelot's collection reminded me of pioneers and nomads. Pioneers because of the vibrant patterns and because of the print. Nomads because of the warm look and all the layers. It can be pretty risky to throw a bunch of different fabrics together and create a complete look, but in my opinion she was pretty successful. The collection featured knit scarves, leggings, pants, skirts and outerwear. Many of the pieces were over-sized which became a bit problematic when a model almost lost her shawl. If the pieces were just better fitting I believe it would have all been quite wearable and sell-able.

Other talented designers included Hurst Chang-Wei Li, Aura Taylor, Dejchat Sriyoopum,Minha Yoon, and Holly Smith.

The show only had about 46 looks, so it went by fairly fast but I enjoyed every second of it. Stay tuned for more adventures!

Images via Fashionising.com and Zimbio