July in Miami brings absurdly hot weather, but also a chance to see the coolest fashions from up-and-coming designers at Gen Art's much-anticipated fashion event, Styles Miami, presented this year by NSU Fischler School of Education and Human Services. The winning designers from Gen Art's Styles International Design Competition in New York got the chance to showcase their debut collections in South Florida. For the 2005 event Gen Art regional director Julia Brown and regional manager Monica Glass created more room for socializing with the addition of a private section in the mezzanine of the Gusman Center for the Performing Arts.
Jackie Battagello of Cece Feinberg Public Relations kept things running smoothly as guests—Gen Art members, editors, and fashion mavens—hurried into the theater to enjoy complimentary libations from BAWLS Guarana, Beck's Premier Light, Boru Vodka, and Perrier, which sponsors the Bubbling Under award, where designers submit illustration boards with drawings of their fashions, and Perrier chooses one winner who gets $10,000 to bring the creations to life.
DJ Hottpants spun 80's hits and dance tunes on the second level, where hunky bartenders at the champagne bar couldn't open bottles of bubbly fast enough. Gobos of most of the event sponsors were projected onto a wall adjacent to a winding staircase leading to the mezzanine. Additional branding came in the form of a Perrier booth plus the BAWLS drink station, which featured models passing out shots and an oversize blow-up bottle. Perhaps because the supply of liquor was seemingly endless, chattering guests hardly noticed that the main event was running fashionably late. Eventually, everyone made it to his or her seats, and host Jay McCarroll, winner of Bravo's hit TV show Project Runway, started the festivities.
The designs, with the exception of Karolina Zmarlak's opulent evening wear, ranged from mental-asylum chic to tattered caught-in-a-blender looks. After the show, everyone emerged en masse from the theater to attend the after-party at Pawn Shop.
—Vanessa Goyanes
Jackie Battagello of Cece Feinberg Public Relations kept things running smoothly as guests—Gen Art members, editors, and fashion mavens—hurried into the theater to enjoy complimentary libations from BAWLS Guarana, Beck's Premier Light, Boru Vodka, and Perrier, which sponsors the Bubbling Under award, where designers submit illustration boards with drawings of their fashions, and Perrier chooses one winner who gets $10,000 to bring the creations to life.
DJ Hottpants spun 80's hits and dance tunes on the second level, where hunky bartenders at the champagne bar couldn't open bottles of bubbly fast enough. Gobos of most of the event sponsors were projected onto a wall adjacent to a winding staircase leading to the mezzanine. Additional branding came in the form of a Perrier booth plus the BAWLS drink station, which featured models passing out shots and an oversize blow-up bottle. Perhaps because the supply of liquor was seemingly endless, chattering guests hardly noticed that the main event was running fashionably late. Eventually, everyone made it to his or her seats, and host Jay McCarroll, winner of Bravo's hit TV show Project Runway, started the festivities.
The designs, with the exception of Karolina Zmarlak's opulent evening wear, ranged from mental-asylum chic to tattered caught-in-a-blender looks. After the show, everyone emerged en masse from the theater to attend the after-party at Pawn Shop.
—Vanessa Goyanes
Gen Art's Styles Miami included lots of branding: BAWLS Guarana set up an inflatable bottle and had hunky servers distributing the beverage.
Perrier had its own booth on the mezzanine level of the Gusman Center for the Performing Arts .
Gobos projected onto the wall reminded guests who was responsible for the fashionable evening.
Karolina Zmarlak, who won the eveningwear category of the design competition, showcased her opulent collection during the fashion show.
