Article from UltraPDX.com, May, 2006

Debrief: Catwalk
editor-at-large Ashkan, writes home about the Saturday night Catwalk Benefit for Boost Foundation

Pulling up to Henry V (it’s Vee not the fifth), I was instantly taken back to my time at Fashion Week in New York...the great, white tent with large name sponsors like Maserati and the Michael Jordan group. It was a big ticket affair for big ticket people. A fleet of luxury cars carrying the bourgeoisie set pulled up through the night. It was the first event for the Boost Foundation that raises money for at-risk youth.

The event was a production, to say the least, measuring up to many Portland events. It was well-organized, with strategic seating for all, good lighting, good sound. Pure professionalism! The special “guest star” emcee from Entertainment Tonight was not present. It seems that he was interviewing Prince. The fashion show featured the spring/summer 2006 collections of Michelle Decourcy, Christopher Bevans, and Souchi.

A favorite from Lake Oswego to the Pearl District, Michelle DeCourcy, was the top of the bill with her ultra-feminine spring/summer 2006 collection. DeCourcy is a prudent, risk-taker. She knows how to coax her conservative clientele into daring, flirty silhouettes. Her aqua dress with a sheer brown overlay with copper leaf brocade was the finest day to evening piece at the event.

A grass green satin dress full of whimsy came flying down the runway for the blistering nights to come. Again, DeCourcy thrives in the interplay of conventional yet sexy. Her finale was a pink taffeta party dress with peak-a-boo white tulle making an appearance from the hem. The party dress is symbolic of Michelle DeCourcy designs and her audacious personality. A celebration of woman. It’s her party, and it will never end for DeCourcy’s designs.

Straight from the last year’s Michael Kors ad campaign walked the designs of Christopher Bevans. Designer Bevans introduced us to la dolce vita of preppy meets Sean John. He challenged himself and his clients to define modern American sportswear for Portland. The current movement of urban/hip hop emulating the WASP aesthetic was a profound inspiration for Bevans’ spring/summer 2006 collection. Could have it been any more Great Gatsby with polo shirts adorned with plaid ties, aviator sunglasses, cruise jackets in every color and fabric and oversized canvas weekend bags? All-over white pants or smart searsucker trousers? The collection reminded me of my tennis lessons as a youngster at the country club where we ended the afternoon with high ice tea putting on our finest Ralph Lauren impression.

I am keen to see the brave young man who will sport a pink gingham shirt with pink cropped pants in Portland...I shall faint! His denouement was a strong, colorless tuxedo style suit for the urban man-on-the-go.

Another Portland favorite closed the show with her luxurious knits. 100% cashmere! Souchi was, as I declare, a cash-miracle! Her pieces are hand-loomed alongside the collections of Armani and Dolce y Gabbana in Italy. For her spring/summer 2006 collection, designer Suzi Johnson (a former Isaac Mizrahi intern! Dare I dream!) fashioned a 50/50 cotton/cashmere line to create adaptability in our temperamental Portland climate. Her pieces and the models were crowd pleasers as hoots and bellows (from men) filled the venue as the girls sachéd down the runway in barely-there bikinis.

Johnson’s designs are reminiscent of 1960’s designer Gernreich who invented the high-cut, buttocks-baring thong and cutout swimwear. Souchi is a combination of touchable sex, stretch and comfort.

Article from The Oregonian, May 2006

Style revival Fashion show: Some clothes auctioned off after the event

Author: VIVIAN McINERNY; The Oregonian

Summary - FASHIONISTAS’ SERIOUS BUSINESS WORKS FUN INTO NONPROFIT’S FIRST FUNDRAISER

A big white tent drew a crowd of fevered fashion seekers to an urban street corner Saturday night. In chic suits and mod cuts they came, crossing a busy Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard at Holman Street in silky dresses and spiky heels and disappearing inside.

This was a style revival.

Catwalk, a fashion event to support the Boost Foundation, drew about 300 people ready to put the fun back in fundraising. The cocktails were free flowing at the $150-a-ticket event an hour before the 9 p.m. fashion show was scheduled to start. But backstage, reached through a labyrinth of black-curtained corridors, the atmosphere was all business. Well, at least as businesslike as fashion events get.

“I would rock this,” said Keenan Coleman, admiring the pink-striped cropped pants, checked shirt and leather jacket he was about to model. “No big logos. I like that. It just needs to be a little bit bigger size for me, and it’ll be straight.”

As for the color?

“Yeah, real men wear pink!”

Portland-based designers Michelle DeCourcy, Suzi Johnson of Souchi and Christopher Bevans showed their spring collections at the event. The Michelle DeCourcy and Souchi lines are available at boutiques all over the country. Both designers also have flagship shops in Portland. Bevans, a creative director with Nike’s Blue Ribbon Sports sub-brand, launched his independent label with this show. The merchandise is sold only through word-of-mouth for now, but he is working on setting up manufacturing and finding retail outlets.

“I’m a classic kind of guy. I do classic silhouettes and have fun with the colors and mix and match of fabrics,” he said.

Backstage, before hitting the runway in a white suit by Bevans, model Jordan Chan-Mendez had to make a style adjustment of his own.

“I don’t usually tie my shoes,” he said, taking a seat to unknot the bows and loosen the laces of the white Converse All Stars.

Alder Hockett of Sidlab oversaw a team of six stylists busily combing, curling and piling the product on models. On the men, it was a matter of slicking back long hair and putting sharp parts in short hair. For the women, the stylists wanted hair to look mussed-up and romantic.

“We wanted it off the body to expose the neck and shoulders,” said Hockett. “We wanted it up but NOT prom hair.”

Greg Nared, who works closely with Tiger Woods for Nike, took to the runway to tell people about his passion to give back to the community by funding programs for at-risk youths through his nonprofit Boost Foundation.

“Boost has been around about one year and this is our first fundraiser. This is our coming out party,” he said. “We have a young board that is fired up . . . to keep Portland a great place to be 20 years from now.”

With the thumping rhythm of the music and the cheer of the crowd, the show began. Each model’s silhouette appeared on a screen right before she or he hit the 70-foot runway.

The Christopher Bevans collection, which included a midnight-blue velvet blazer with striped lining, a plaid suit with polka dot tie and a baby-blue leather jacket with orange trim suggested Bevans, a talent designer with extensive credentials, will get a bigger story in the future.

Designer Johnson of Souchi showed her sweet and simple knit collection that includes cashmere bikinis. Yep, cashmere bikinis. The first swimsuits of the early 1900s were wool knit. These will not be mistaken for those. The tiny, unstructured bottoms and baby doll halters looked adorable on the perfectly toned models.

Michelle DeCourcy’s spring collection focused a lot on the exposure of the back with halter tops and dresses in silks and a beautiful cut-velvet fabric in blue, brown and coral. She also included more print fabrics than before.

“Everyone has their own reaction to a print and you have to be careful,” DeCourcy said earlier. “What’s so amazing and gorgeous to one, might look like an old lady print to someone else. Or they’ll say, ‘I think it looks like a Pez dispenser.’ “

After the fashion show, a quick auction of some of the clothes, travel package and a Nike golf package that included a signed golf flag by Tiger Woods, brought in several thousand dollars. The Boost Foundation chose Self Enhancement Inc. as the beneficiary of its first fundraiser.

“It’s good for Portland to have something on this level,” said Tony Hopson president of SEI about the hip and stylish fundraiser. “These are the people we’re trying to reach.”

Vivian McInerny: 503-294-4076; vmcinerny@news.oregonian.com
Copyright (c) 2006 Oregonian Publishing Co.