Recap: Summer in Space

Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the West 18th Street Fashion Show. Metallic accents, sheer fabrics, geometric angles, and even utilitarian pieces transforming right before our eyes took the stage in this year’s Summer in Space. As day became night on the outdoor runway we didn’t see Captain Kirk, but a much less literal, and more modern, interpretation of space by eighteen emerging designers.

Throughout the night, The Rathaus found three standout collections. These designers brought us cohesive collections with avant-garde pieces capable of catching my eye even after hours of high-end fashion internet browsing.

Katie Coble
Katie Coble is a Kansas City native but is currently a BFA Fibers candidate for 2010 at Maryland Institute College of Art with concentrations in experimental fashion and environmental design. Flux, instability, and the use of an object are what most interest her. She experiments mostly with material manipulation to transform garments and objects into different orientations. The wearer creates a performance using an object that does so many things that it can’t do one thing specific. Infinite possibilities do not equal one solution, but may just pose more questions and exploration. What drives Katie’s work is constraining the variables between these possibilities. Much of her fashion changes volumes and silhouettes and mixes very delicate feminine forms with heavier more massive ones.

Katie Coble

Katie Coble

Katie Coble

Katie Coble

Glib Engrish by Sovannra Yos
Sovannra has a BFA in Fiber from the Kansas City Art Institute, and is planning to continue her studies with a degree in fashion marketing. She describes her design style as a combination of luxury fabrics and the recycling of existing garments.

Glib Engrish by Sovannra Yos

Glib Engrish by Sovannra Yos

Swimming in the Galaxies by Rachel Rolon
Based in Kansas City, Rachel has attended college at the Kansas City Art Institute. She is planning a collection that will draw inspiration from galaxies, nebula, goddesses and art nouveau. She is planning to create sculptural, transformative garments for the runway.

Swimming in the Galaxies by Rachel Rolon

Swimming in the Galaxies by Rachel Rolon

Continue reading for photos from all designers.

Lacey Doherty

smilla by Shannon Bailey

Farrell Clothing Design by Andrew Hansen

spool*

spool*

spool*

Spacey by Julie Potratz & Rebecca Taylor

Spacey by Julie Potratz & Rebecca Taylor

Smart Couture by Georgianna Londre Buchanan

Glib Engrish by Sovannra Yos

Jessy Bergmann

Supernova for Frock Designs by Abigail Herbert

Sara Enami

Oblivion Clothing by Nataliya Meyer

Remote Controle by Lindsay Rae Miller

Remote Controle by Lindsay Rae Miller

Joscelyn Himes

Joscelyn Himes

By Birth by Ari Fish & Peggy Noland

By Birth by Ari Fish & Peggy Noland

By Birth by Ari Fish & Peggy Noland

Electric Odyssey by Jovana Mirabile, Jewelry by Rachael Marie

birdies, Jewelry by Coki Bijou, Fascinators by Erica Voetsch

posted by: Tricia Rock
photos by: Sara Rock and Tricia Rock
video by: Scott Stewart

Don’t: Rap Anymore Young Cons

I’ll admit it, I watch Fox News’ Fox & Friends in the morning. But like others (and by others I mean mostly fellow hipsters) I only tune in because it’s hilarious entertainment, more side show than news show. Case in point, while watching Gretchen, Steve and Brian this morning, right after their weekly Hooters cross-promotion which includes a waitress (skin-tight shorts and all) named Sara Hoots serving wings to the anchors, I had the displeasure of hearing what The Young Cons consider music.

And at first I laughed as I normally do, until I got really embarrassed. Because emcees Stitlz and Serious C were so bad at rapping, moving, and dressing that The Young Cons quickly became unwatchable. Between their cringe-worthy ad libs and off-beat movements they seemed like a pair of drunk Baby Boomers trying to plow through some hip-hop together at the local karaoke bar.

Except these are students from Dartmouth, an Ivy League university that should be the academic home to some of the brightest minds in America instead of these two immature nerds. But I guess a private university with a $34,000 a year tuition rate like Dartmouth doesn’t offer music appreciation courses, or a class in African-American culture or even poetry writing.

Granted, The Young Cons say they’re not really pursuing a career in hip-hop and claim to be on a “devout mission to spread the love and logic surrounding true conservatism.” And supposedly through awful lyrics about Jesus and Ronald Reagan these two will clear up the tainted perception of conservatives everywhere.

Yet The Yong Cons have a website with lyrics, a Fox News appearance, a Twitter account, a Myspace and Facebook. So call me cynical but I think they may actually enjoy fame. What’s worse is that by picking up their mics both Stiltz and Serious C are actually reinforcing many of the same stereotypes they are on a quest to erase. Say for example, the stereotype that the Republican Party is the party of white America or that Conservatives are culturally insensitive or that some Neo-Cons (see Micheal Steele) think embracing hip-hop is the key to gaining the minority vote. Messages that only play to the ever-shrinking base of the Republican Party and do little to educate others outside the party on their viewpoints.

My suggestion to The Young Cons, to stop rapping publicly until they find the time to become at least listenable and to quit taking fashion cues from The Office’s Andy Bernard before they catch an ass kicking from a real emcee.

posted by: Harold Johns III

Burma Matters

Last night Tricia and I shared a meal at Free State Brewery with Tim and Linda Heinemann of the non-profit, humanitarian organization Worldwide Impact Now (WIN). We were invited to dinner as a thank you for helping with the Drunken Sailor’s Tailor fashion show, which was organized by Tim’s daughter Malina Heinemann as a benefit to raise money for WIN’s work in Burma.

Since 2004 this husband and wife team have focused most of WIN’s resources towards helping the Karen people (an ethnic minority) of northeastern Burma in their ongoing rebellion against the violent, corrupt military dictatorship currently in control of Burma. Since the military seized power in 1962 the Burmese people have been systematically brutalized by their government through the use of censorship, torture, forced labor, land mines, murder, rape, civilian attacks, the destruction of farmland, and the forcible transfer of various populations. The government also initially blocked humanitarian aid from entering Burma after Cyclone Nargis killed nearly 200,000 people and left another one million people homeless in May of 2008. The Thailand Burma Border Consortium estimates that currently over 450,000 people are internally displaced in Burma, while well over 300,000 Burmese have already fled to refugee camps located mainly in Thailand. Just today the BBC reported that another 3,000 Karens are fleeing from the Ler Per Her camp because of attacks by the Burmese military in what is being described as the largest exodus of refugees from Burma in over a decade.

And right in the thick of this dehumanizing chaos you’ll find Tim, the retired US Army colonel, and the WIN organization working with a network of like-minded associates on the ground in Burma, risking their lives “to engage, enable, empower and emancipate man, woman, youth and child through individual and communal development in the spirit of selfless service to mankind.”

To achieve this mission, organizations like WIN need more than your money, they need you to care. Caring begins with understanding and understanding only comes from education. So we urge all our readers to make an effort in learning about Burma and the work of WIN and other organizations that are attempting to give human rights back to the Burmese people.

Check out these sources for more information:
Amnesty International
Burma Issues
Democratic Voice of Burma
Free Burma Rangers
US Campaign for Burma
Radio Free Asia

Burma VJ is a documentary film about reporters working to expose the Burmese government from within. Click here for more information on the theatrical release of the film.

posted by: Brent Carter

Street Style: Kansas City

While attending the 9th Annual West 18th Street Fashion Show (which was great by the way, recap on the event coming soon), I was able to get some great street style shots. Continue reading for more photos. Enjoy!

9th Annual West 18th Street Fashion Show

Get ready for Kansas City’s 9th Annual West 18th Street Fashion Show. This Saturday, June 6th at dusk (8pm), eighteen established and emerging designers will take the stage, showcasing their collections based around this year’s theme Summer in Space. The West 18th Street Fashion Show began as a means to feature the burgeoning fashion and arts community of Kansas City’s Crossroads district, and in particular the strip of 18th Street between Baltimore and Wyandotte. With support from the surrounding local businesses, including Birdies Panties and Swimwear Boutique, spool*, and YJ’s Snack Bar, the West 18th Street Fashion Show has grown exponentially in production value, but the outdoor street setting, eccentricity and beauty of the event endures.

Summer in Space includes not only collections from Birdies Panties and spool*, but also the designs of Peggy Noland (featured in Rolling Stone, Elle, and Spin), nationally recognized avant-garde designer Ari Fish, New York based Jovana Mirabile, Joscelyn Himes (awarded KC Magazine’s 2008 Best Local Fashion Designer), and more. “We’re honored that successful Kansas City designers who have been able to use our show as a starting off point for their careers continue to return to our runway,” says Executive Producer Ashlee Broome.

Check back next week for The Rathaus’ coverage of Summer in Space.

Street shot of last year’s show by Tiffany Matson

posted by: Tricia Rock