Pret-A-Porter San Francisco 2010 Review

SFFAMA had been promoting its Pret-A-Porter San Francisco event for a while before I abruptly decided to check it out last Saturday at Press Club. Sponsored by the club, 7×7, Elizabeth Arden: Red Door, and SF Indie Fashion, the fashion show was a delightful eye-opener for me to see a glimpse of what San Francisco fashion designers are capable of.

West Coast Leather and Vayaro presented a nicely constructed array of leather jackets and badass bags and purses. The feeling is equal parts rock star and cool, and the models were successful in bringing out the awesomeness of this collection.

Rock Chiq offered a nice play of details, colors, cut-outs, textures, and silhouette in her collection. The outfits are definitely interesting and entertaining to marvel at.

Anya Tatarenko….oh my, where do I start. I LOVE her collection. It’s very soft and romantic without being too girly. She imbued some edge of sophistication to all of her garments and I adore this collection (and her) so much.

Work Clothes had a great selection of casual wear (T-shirts, capri pants) with a bit of a jazz flair. The models were (clearly) having fun as well.

Magdalena Trever, an AAU 2009 graduate brought forth a collection of cute, bright-colored bikinis that sometimes made me think of Amazonian or Caribbean fantasy. The yarn texture and bikini details really switched my summer mood on.

Malin Namita Couture retold the Indian royalty story in this enchanting collection. Indian culture? Check. Royalty sophistication? Check. Bollywood star? Check. Having fun watching one outfit after another? Heck yeah.

Mikelsen‘s first few outfits really reminded me of those long dress style that’s timelessly popular in Japan. They were fitted on the shoulders and bust, and gradually flaring out from the point under the bust. I especially love the loosely fitted, sleeveless, light grey dress with (what seemed to be) keyhole cut-out at the bottom.

Last but not least: Tosca Soraya. Her outfits were visually entertaining, boldly creative, unapologetically high street couture, and definitely worthy of closing the show. I wrote “wearable avant-garde” on my notes. Even though they’re not for the faint-hearted, these outfits make you want to treat city streets as your own personal catwalk. Fabulous!