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Show V: The Fashion of Paperby Stephen R Lang
You know those days, even though they tell you, “Be careful…it’s a full moon!" you still find some craziness that blows your mind? Thursday, March 16, 2006 was one of those days. It started out normal [blasé] work, dealing with customers, dealing with coworkers, lunch, then—just as I’m throwing out my garbage, a gift from the fun Gods came to me. There, on top of the garbage can was something so strange, so unique, something that actually made me late coming back from work—let alone semi-unproductive the rest of the day. There before me was this week’s City Link and was left open to the Art Listings page, and there, in black and white, was one of the strangest pictures I’ve seen. It looked like Glenda the Good Witch from “Wicked” with Rapunzel-esque hair…all in white—stark white. Headline went: “Paper cachet. Designers from around the world present Show V: The Fashion of Paper” and then gave times and address. Well, as it turns out, it was tonight! So I scoured the rest of the page and found out that it was “…a fashion show of 15 dresses made entirely from paper, created by designers to represent diverse countries, from Australia to Madagascar, and Poland to Tibet.” So, now I know what I have to do, but how do I get there, not get lost, and have fun? Whom do I invite? Just then, the Gods of Fate & Fun smiled on me…my ex-roommate CoriLyn called and had no plans for the night. Best part, she used to live in Miami! She knew pretty much where it was, but, with the help of a coworker Senufa, pinpointed where it was to be. I was drooling. As we got into the Edge Zone at the World Arts building on North Miami Avenue, I had no idea what to expect. Would they be on models or mannequins? Is it a fashion show or an exhibit? Well, let’s say, judging solely on the parking situation [bleak]—that should have been an indication. Everyone, and when I say everyone and their mother showed up, they did. We could barely get through the door, the auditorium was beyond standing room only, but we managed to squeeze in and stake a spot and enjoy the show. The show was an AIGA (American Institute for Graphic Arts) event that actually made me feel like I was watching a Project Runway fashion show. It was creative, ingenious, and mind-blowing. The show was phenomenal, and the music they chose to walk the runway in matched the theme of the country it was to represent. I have no idea that paper- simple paper, could be manipulated into such designs. Through the textures, colors, and stitching, these designers amazed and touched every soul in that theater, so much so that I did not want to blink. There were 15 designs displayed, each one represented something unique about their country. Represented were: Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, The Bahamian Junkanoo festival, Bolivia’s Carnival, Cameroon’s Africans tribes, Fiji’s exotic florals, Iceland’s Viking folklore, Jordan was a moving mosaic, Madagascar’s rare flowers, Philippino traditions, a Polka dress, Saudi Arabian belly dancer, Tibetan icon, Uraguanian tango dress, an American 1920’s Flapper dress, and finally, the world represented with a futuristic vision of Metallics. One right after another, each more intricate and unique, making CoriLyn and I proclaim, “That’s my favorite!” |
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