Haus of Donna Faye, Whitney Manney & AC78 shine on Night One of KCFW

Several designers shined during the first night of the 2013 Kansas City Fashion Week. (Photos are property of Kansas City Fashion Week, LLC)

By: Jacob Elyachar

Kansas City’s fashion community came together for the first fashion show in a four-day event that celebrated the city’s rising fashion industry.

There were several superstars that stole the Kansas City Fashion Week and there were also some intriguing designs.

Andrea Maria Long Designs was the first designer to present her new collections.  As soon as the first model came out, my eyes grew bigger.  Each of Ms. Long’s models looked like Amazon warriors!  Her most brazen design of her set was a short silver dress that had what seemed to be a golden birdcage attached to it.

Probably one of the loudest presentations of night one belonged to the Haus of Donna Faye. Omaha designer Tiffany Headley’s clothes paid a tribute to The Raven, as her designs blended both punk and Goth styles. While I was chatting with attendees, we are all on the same page as we thought that her designs could be used in shows like Once Upon A Time and The Vampire Diaries.  Also, one of the attendees stated that the line grew on her “as it progressed.”

Kansas City’s very own Erin Paige showcased her incredible jewelry during the night’s third act.  As the models wore long eloquent white gowns, Ms. Paige’s colorful and sparkly jewelry dazzled the audience.  In fact, one audience member stated that she “was born to buy that jewelry.”

Another Kansas City-based designer showed off her mastery of the color wheel. Chelsea Smith of Chelsea Raine Designs’ dresses featured multiple colors including shamrock green, salmon pink and lilac.   In addition, she also showcased one flowered-patterned dress that paid homage to the 90s.   A majority of Ms. Smith’s designs could also be used for both proms and black-tie events.

Once, Ms. Smith and her models left the stage, the show took a quick break.  During the break, I talked to several attendees who gave me their opinions of the night. They ranged from a “So far, so good” to an “I did not even know that Kansas City had a fashion show.”

Throughout the second half of the night, there were some hits and misses.  Recrudesence’s designs underwhelmed some of the audience but Kaity Rathman Designs’ bold designs that included tie-dyed dresses and a dazzling blue dress that pleased the audience.

The final ladies’ wear presentation of the night belonged to Whitney Manning.  No one held a candle to her designs and it seemed that she also paid homage to the Kansas City Royals, as most of the models’ bangs were blue.  However, her best outfits of the set featured an intriguing denim pantsuit and interesting denim one-piece.

AC78 closed out night one in a spectacular way…the Kansas City Ballet made a surprise appearance on the Kansas City Fashion Week runway.  After the lovely ladies danced off the runway, the men shined in AC78’s brilliant suits.  It was a great way to end the evening.

For more information about this year’s Kansas City Fashion Week, visit their website: http://www.kcfashionweek.com/