The Cleveland Fashion Show, held on Saturday, May 9, 2009, marked the end of Fashion Week Cleveland 2009. The black tie event was held at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel and featured fashion students as well as established designers. The showcased fashions were overwhelmingly well-received by the audience. Here are our highlights of the designers and their work:
Lindsey Mannilla, from the University of Cincinnati
Mannilla's set consisted of traditional pieces that used flashes of bold colors as accents.
Key piece: knee-length skirt in navy blue with a jagged white and lime-green stripe down the right side.
Nathanael Porembka, from the University of Cincinnati
Porembka's pieces ranged from daring, showing lots of skin, to more conservative, like his toga-esque draped dress, with just slivers of skin showing.
Key piece: metallic blue dress with metal, flower-like sculpture - and little else - on top.
Megan Rowley, from Kent State University
Rowley's pieces featured silhouettes that were flirty and flowy, the epitome of femininity.
Key piece: sleeveless purple, super-short dress.
Natalie Pandewicz, from Kent State University
Pandewicz's pieces were marked with large geometric sculpture shapes.
Key piece: long sleeved, flowy dress with removable cylindrical structure in front.
Anthony Sprago, from Kent State University
Sprago's collection featured contemporary and classy cocktail dresses.
Key piece: white knee-length dress with low-cut front and high collar.
Jason Tam, from Ursuline College
Tam's collection was made up of sleeveless dresses and shiny fabrics.
Key piece: black-and-white striped dress with turquoise highlight at the neck.
Amber Banks, from Ursuline College
Banks' pieces were marked by her use of animal print as an accent.
Key piece: Banks' take on the little black dress - short, strapless, and with a band of black-and-white animal print (leopard maybe?) around the waist.
Vincent Quevedo
Men in tiny bikini briefs and furry boots... need we say more? Quevedo's men left little to the imagination, but his women wore classy long dresses with chunks of color at the bottom, and skirt sets made of fabulously shiny quilted fabric.
Key piece: jewel-toned blue quilted skirt paired with a large, trapeze-esque jacket.
Jodey Gay Duhaney
Duhaney's pieces were layered, flowy and feminine: the kinds of outfits you could easily dress up for a date night or pair with jeans to go out with the girls.
Key piece: black and pink halter dress, paired with not-quite-opaque leggings.
Valerie Mayen
Mayen's collection was made up of coats that were super cute and classy, and dresses that were super short (but no less cute).
Key piece: white high-collared coat, paired with a white beret and blue gloves. We all know Cleveland sees sub-zero temperatures in the winter, but with an ensemble this adorable, you won't mind the cold!
Susan Kessler
Kessler's colorful coats and scarves were all about the details, featuring intricately quilted designs and cut-out patterns.
Key piece: long, black sleeveless hooded cape with orange detail.
