13 Mar Collaboration Makes Austin Fashion Scene Grow!

What happens in Austin when you give 35 designers 40 yards of fabric and over 110 yards of trim?  Read on to find out about the Black and Tan II Challenge!

Details of the fabric and trim given to 35 designers for Black and Tan II Fashion Challenge. Photography by  Laisa Chavez Macias, who is also a fashion designer participant.

 With spring in the air in Austin, Texas, March Madness begins! Thousands of people from all over the world descend to attend SXSW which runs from Friday the 13th – Sunday 22nd.  Which makes sense, since Austin is The Music Capitol of The World and a hotbed for tech, film and more. But that’s not all people are attending here in Austin. Fashion is becoming another hot ticket item!

So much so, that independent fashion label Celestino Couture (whom my daughter interns for) recently moved their March 21st Fall/Winter 2015  Vive for Fashion Runway Celestino Show, to a larger venue, Austin Bergstrom International Airport, to accommodate the huge demand for tickets. Be sure to catch tickets HERE while you can!

A sneak peek at Laisa Chavez Macias “Fabric Manipulation Technique”: Cross Tack Tucked. Each of the 35 designers selected a closed envelope and in this year’s show must incorporate their selected technique into their design. Now THAT is an exciting new challenge in this year’s Black and Tan II.

And, while I write, another local independent fashion icon, Gail Chovan Atelier, who also chooses to stay in Austin and create her own magnificent fashion shows (Read review of her 2014 “Collection 17: Unprescious” show ) is just wrapping up her showing at Paris Fashion Week.  Now those two alone say a lot about the growth of Austin’s fashion industry!

It looks like not every fashion designer needs to reside in NYC to fulfill their dream. And with many more fashion events year round, that’s good news for Austin designers!

Coming up April 10th – 18th is Austin Fashion Week (AFW), currently THE largest fashion show in the Southwest. Spearheaded by Matt Swinney, AFW has been impacting the Austin fashion scene since 2009. In fact, yours truly would not be where she is today without the experience and exposure I gained from participating in AFW (2009-2011)and winning Best Home Accessories designer three years in a row (but that’s a whole ‘nother story).

Congratulations to all the many talented individuals, independent and emerging designers, stylists, fashion models, photographers and more that are working very hard, in a variety of creative ways, to help put Austin on the national fashion scene map. And it’s paying off!

But amidst all this fashion growth in Austin, one single woman stands out to me, Megan Summerville.

Megan Summerville, the award-winning fashion designer spearheading the Black and Tan Challenge.

Megan Summerville has quietly made a huge impact in supporting emerging local fashion talent by producing a show called Black and Tan Challenge. And just one month before she moves from Austin to Colorado, Megan, a lingerie designer – a 2009 Texas Next Top Designer and a 2014 Austin Fashion Week’s “Trail Blazer” – is squeezing in one more show Friday at 10 p.m., Black and Tan II THIS Friday, March 13th. (Last chance to purchase advance tickets today right HERE). Blazing trails is something that comes naturally for Megan and we thank you!

On a more personal note, what Megan has done is important to me because she’s provided opportunities for my own daughter Qin, as a budding fashion designer.  This will be Qin’s 2nd time having one of her original designs walk the runway (and, as her mother, I’m trying to hold back and contain my excitement!)

Details for my daughter’s gown in progress for the upcoming Black and Tan II Challenge. Photography by me.

But if not for Megan and her efforts to provide opportunities for emerging young designers, it would have been much harder for my daughter’s career to get started. (Megan’s Challenges are free to designers and they only have to create one look, versus a full collection for most runway shows. And she provides all the fabric!)

My daughter, Qin’s, dress design, modeled by Dominique, from the first Black and Tan Challenge in 2013.

In fact, it was directly because of Megan’s event and Qin’s dress she designed in the 2013 challenge (and other designs Qin created in the Stitch Lab’s Fashion Intensive program spearheaded by Tina Sparkles) that Qin was able to land an amazing internship with the above label Celestino Couture. Upon graduating from high school, almost a year ago, Qin has been apprenticing, and receiving hands on couture training in Austin, with designer Sergio Guadarrama, of Celestino Couture.  Celestino Couture is a sought-after luxury evening wear brand that has garnered global attention and graced the pages of  Women’s Wear Daily, New York Fashion, People and more.

THIS collaborative spirit, designers helping other designers, is the kind of creativity and “out-of-the box” thinking that makes Austin such a very special and unique community that I am very proud to call home!

Please enjoy the images below from the 2013 Black & Tan I. And come to the show tomorrow, Friday, March 13th, to see what happens when someone as generous as Megan gives away hundreds of yards of fabric to create this amazing event, Black and Tan II. AND tacks on a “Fabric Manipulation Technique”. Thank you with all my heart Megan for your support of my daughter Qin and for making this runway experience possible for so many of Austin’s talented emerging fashion designers. You are A-W-E-S-O-M-E and we will miss you, but thank you for Blazing Trails here in Austin, Texas!!

Last chance today to buy your advance tickets right HERE!  See you tomorrow night…it’s going to be FABULOUS with 35 designs walking the Austin runway! Watch for photos next week. Till then,  XOPG

Note: Photography by, and with permission from, Juan Macias Photography.

Front of my daughter Qin’s dress from the 2013 Black and Tan Challenge.

I love the low back and long flowing bow detail of Qin’s dress.

My daughter, Qin, in 2013 at age 17, with her model Dominique. The model is wearing Qin’s very first gown that she ever made. Qin received “Honorable Mention” for her design.

This was the amazing winning design in Black and Tan 2013 by Amanda Rose. I would wear this divine dress in a heartbeat!

Amanda Rose’s winning gown which was breathtaking!!.