For the third year in a row the ever popular Mass Appeal went off without a hitch! Fashion Maniac had a chance to sit down with Erin Habes, the producer of Mass Appeal and ask her a couple questions about the show this year. We also had a chance to chat with some of the designers who were so gracious to take time out of their busy night and talk to us backstage.
Interview conducted by: Cassie Elsaesser & Cameron Richard
All Photography & Managing Editor: Cheryl Gorski
Fashion Maniac: Did you find the show a success?
Erin Habes: Yes!
Fashion Maniac: Why?
Erin Habes: It was the smoothest run production ever, due to a good team and crew of students and volunteers that were backstage and really, were on top of everything and it just went off without a hitch! It was nice!
FM: The stores that were in the show, did you find them or did they come to you?
EH: It’s a little bit of both. There are people I have worked with for all of the Mass Appeal shows that I value as staples of the Elmwood Strip, ‘anatomy’ for example, which is a new store that opened up – we approached her but she actually approached me last year after Mass Appeal and gave me her card so it’s a little bit of both. Same thing with local designers I have a crop of people that I believe in and I use, which I don’t have to use but it makes sense to me. We put a call out to everybody though. Elmwood Village Association sends out an e-mail and they have 8,000 followers on Facebook, so it’s not just me picking who I like. Whoever is interested I make it work.
FM: For the ‘wearable art’ section, what made you choose to pair each designer with each store?
EH: They actually chose. They gave me their top 3 and I ended up making one of those 3 work. Everybody chose perfectly, like Lulu was paired with We Never Close, perfect! When she used to work at Firebrand she used to draw and paint the Pabst Blue Ribbon can on Keds (shoes) and here she is making a PBR (Pabst Blue Ribbon) dress, so everybody just naturally fell into place it was a beautiful thing
(click all photos to enlarge)
FM: What keeps you coming back and doing Mass Appeal?
EH: It’s just the mad love from every angle and every person that’s a part of it… just the experiences they have and just the out-pour of people coming out of nowhere and Facebooking me and calling me and thanking me for being so ambitious and bringing something of this magnitude to Buffalo. It’s a nice community kind of feel.
I also had a chance to chat with the designers backstage. The local talent we have in Buffalo is very apparent and even with all the commotion and preparation for the show happening backstage everyone was excited to talk about their collection for this year’s Mass Appeal.
BRO sat down with Holly Hue and inquired what her inspiration was for this collection and how the everyday women could wear her pieces?
“My inspiration were actually Cosby sweaters from “The Cosby Show” – my designs are very versatile for the everyday women, you can dress them up for night or dress them down for day. My collection is all about function.”
Her particular collection took a couple of weeks and she has been designing for 6 years now.
Clementiny Dae, who has been designing for 2 years had inspiration come for this collection in much different way: “It actually came from a women who wanted to special order a coat made from coffee bean bags. I loved it! I decided to make a whole collection of it, my collection and designs are usually re-use.” I asked about how the everyday women would wear her particular designs: “They are all custom made and can be worn by anyone, pregnant, plus size, all women! They can dress them up with heels or boots, anything really!” Her particular collection took “About 2 weeks.”
Aella’s inspiration for their collection came from “falls rich and deep colors, metallic, lace, its very Victorian.” Their collection “took about 6 weeks, are we counting the nights spent all night sewing?” [laughs] I asked them how they could envision the everyday woman wearing their pieces. “Absolutely wearable, to a cocktail party or a night out, there are tutus underneath for the runway show but they can take them out, everything is absolutely ready to wear.”
Jon Mirro‘ s show was an interesting and fun addition to the traditional runway show I had a chance to ask him how he thought his tattoos could be incorporated into fashion: “They are on you forever, it’s the most important fashion choice you can make, it takes such commitment.” He has been tattooing for 9 years and I asked him what inspired him to start tattooing: “A dream. I woke on a Sunday at 11:14am after having a dream and I just knew it was what I was suppose to start doing.”
Designer Morgen Love, always brings the house down with her theatrical presentations. Old world carnie style was her theme for this season. Her designs are whimsical, sexy, and are made for comfort. Marilyn Hammer jewelry designer, featured herself, and her designs with Morgen this season. Marilyn uses feathers, vintage beads, bones for her earrings, necklaces, hair pieces, and purse clips. Native American culture inspires her creations. Both Morgen and Marilyn are very spiritual, earth children at heart, and you can see this in their designs.
All of these designers did a fantastic job this year and Mass Appeal certainly is an Elmwood Village phenomenon!
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