Friday, May 14, marked the first fashion show for Legation, a gallery. There was a full house and a great deal of anticipation before the show began.
Gallery owner Hilary Aurand was greeting guests with big smiles of excitement. Hilary and her husband John opened Legation, a gallery in April 2009 after "major construction, painting, etc., which began in February." The gallery is located in the 78th St. Studios.
Blake Peebles, one of feature designers, and Hilary decided to produce a fashion show to showcase local talent.
"We had come to the realization that much of the amazing fashion talent in the Cleveland area was not getting the recognition they deserved," Hilary said. "After attending a local fashion show that was a total flop, we were motivated to produce something completely unique and entertaining."
Hilary explained that the designers were selected based on their unique style as well as wanting to promote names that may not gave been recognized in Cleveland before. One of the designers, Anton Zbarzh, even designed Hilary’s wedding dress! The show consisted of five designers: Anton Abarzh, The Xalter Zaughn Collection, Jazmine Nossier, TJ Horst, Matthew Busch and Blake Peebles.
DJ David Petrovich set the mood for the show with his upbeat tracks. Niki and Sara from Savvy Salon styled the models' hair.
Each designer displayed his or her talent and flair for fashion with colors, cut and fabric selection for each piece.
TJ Horst highlighted his talent using molten wool and intricate details in his collections. He used bright and muted colors. A layering technique was used to create his works of art.
Xalter Zaughn Collection was original urban styled menswear using jerseys and sweaters. Designs were simplistic with a vibrant edge.
Anton Zbarzh had 10 pieces in the show, all of which were defined by color blocking.
"[Color blocking] is continuing to be one of the top trends," Zbarzh said. "I’m also inspired by Chanel because Ms. Coco started from nothing, and now Chanel is a multi-million dollar brand."
When asked if he has a target audience, Zbarzh answered, "I don’t like to put my brand into an age box because as long as you can rock the clothes, it doesn’t matter how old you are."
Blake Peebles' and Matthew Busch's looks were chic and well designed, using wearable fabrics and dynamic styles.
Jazmine Nossier channeled old Hollywood for modern day women. An inspiration to her six-piece collection was Amelia Earhart.
"This is a small collection of what I thought Amelia would wear today...to work, to a dinner, to an interview, to go shopping with friends," Jazmine explained. "This collection was meant to resemble the reasons I first became interested in being a fashion designer to begin with, which was being a costume designer for films, particularly period pieces. So finding inspiration for the collection was very easy."
With the success of their first fashion show, Hilary said, "We are definitely considering producing more fashion-related events at the gallery, and we are currently working on a show that will take place in October, sometime around Halloween, which will be titled 'Blood, Sweat, and Tears.' This will be a more theatrical version of our last show, and may even focus on millinery (hat designs) as well!"
Hilary said, "Our focus at Legation is to promote up and coming artists and designers and give them as many opportunities as possible to network in the community. Although we have some focus on professional artists and designers who have made a name for themselves in Cleveland, we definitely want to stress the importance of noticing individuals who are just beginning their creative careers."
Be on the look for the five fabulous designers from the fashion show and other more fashion related events to come at Legation, a gallery. They are not to be missed!
Check out our photos from the show, taken by Ned Breznai:
