Horns by Alex Hancock Credit: Photo by Suzi Pratt

Horns by Alex Hancock

  • Photo by Suzi Pratt
  • Horns by Alex Hancock

Do you want to see all the designs that were featured in our first-ever fashion show, Worn Out, including the now-infamous “clear-vinyl-raingear-worn-by-naked-ladies-in-heels”?!? Thanks to super photographer Suzi Pratt, and The Stranger‘s handy-dandy slideshow machine, you can see ’em *RIGHT HERE* (and just in case that wasn’t enough, there’s even more-more-more photos, by photographer Matthew Bodaly, here on Flickr).

Immeasurable thanks to everyone that made Friday possible—everyone that helped us reinvent the concept that a fashion show should be fun, instead of stupidly pretentious. Thanks to every single model, designer, VAIN for the gorgeous and magical hair and makeup, Dumb Eyes for the incredible audio-visuals, vitaminwater Zero, PopChips, AVPro, Phoenix Media, Crossroads Trading, and all the nice folks at the ACT Theatre. Until next time!

Kelly O—formerly a Stranger staff photographer, music writer, Drunk of the Week columnist, and more!—finished art school and a soul-crushing internship at a corporate advertising agency in Detroit,...

32 replies on “Photos From Worn Out: The Stranger Fashion Show”

  3. This event was a complete rip off. Half of the theater was taken up by comped seats. I can’t believe people were charged $20.00 with the very heavy Vitamin Water sponsorship. Oh, and it was less than an hour long? What crap.

  4. So in regards to the “douchebags leading animal women around on leashes” series, are the douchebags supposed to represent fashion designers, and the women representing the public that blindly buy all the bullshit they peddle? Because that’s very meta… Otherwise, it’s just incredibly sexist and condescending towards women.

  5. I agree with what @4 said regarding the “douchebags leading animal women around on leashes”. I can’t believe that many women even agreed to do that. Did the audience boo?

  6. The animal women on leashes were my favorite part of the show. My sister was one of the gals and had an absolute blast doing it. I loved the designer’s suits. It was all totally fun.

    Animals can be women too, you know. It was playful.

    4 & 5, you people are waaaay too sensitive and stiff. Or you’re just that jealous. If you are this upset about a fashion show and some people having fun with clothes and with fashion, (and s&m), then you need to get your head out of your ass, open your eyes, and put your energy toward some shit that matters, because there’s a LOT worse stuff happening around the world than this.

    Being offended by this is a stupid waste of energy.

    But you probably can’t walk down the street without being offended. Why don’t you move to compound somewhere in the country and be a Quaker?

  7. “Worn Out” is an incredibly apropos name for this tired event.

    I was in attendance on Friday night and the only designer that was able to pull together a cohesive presentation of any interest was Prairie Underground. The other designers were derivative, boring or offensive (see comments about women being led around on leashes).

    This event might not have been pretentious but it certainly was stupid.

  8. Thank you to The Stranger for finally hosting a Fashion Show. I hope it is the first of many, and that each time you present the Seattle public with emerging designers. It is a great way for our city to embrace yet another artform Seattlites have to offer. Fashion is objective, and this show had something for everyone. Menswear to Raingear, Drag to everyday attire, it was a good mix for everyone. And what is a Fashion presentation without a little controversy….though I might have liked one of those gals leading a boy around on a leash for a bit. Rowr! 🙂

  11. OMG @ 1 and 2! Your comments **LOL!** are so witty and cool, I’m glad you posted twice! OMG, OMG!

    And all these people created all these garments with their own hands, but OH-M-GEE — IMHO I bet they *really* wish, that instead of knowing how to sew and create, they knew how to be SUPER COOL anonymous blog commenters. OMG! There’s nothing cooler….

  13. It was a fun, lighthearted show and I’m sorry that danindowntown was too important for it. I was thrilled to see young designers like Alex Hancock and Isaiah Whitmore with more established labels like Prairie Underground. I saw all smiles backstage, and the Stranger threw the event like it had been going on for years. It was a great representation of what’s going on in Seattle. We aren’t a fashion center, but the Northwest has a great tradition of design and manufacture — that some people care enough to want to see return to it’s glory days. Don’t let one naysayer bum you out, people — that cheering in the video was real.

  14. And while I’m feeling mouthy, another shout out to Tarboo. They are working in the best Northwest tradition and we should support the hell out of them.

  15. i love how someone defends the fashion industry by telling people to “put your energy toward some shit that matters, because there’s a LOT worse stuff happening around the world than this” — if only the fashion industry would take that advice, then the billions poured into it might actually improve life on this planet, instead of being vaporised into meaningless fashion bullshit.

  16. Great show. Great job by all involved. ACT is beautiful. I loved getting to see the designs and get ups. Already looking forward to next year’s.

    Riz Rollins was there, and that is all that matters to me. He is a God.

    12 – Spank. Dat. Ass.

  17. the comments are hilarious! the feedback made my day. so serious. it’s fuckin fashion. #16, you killed it, son. #5, booing would’ve been amazing. alas, it was just cheering. sorry.

  18. @6 Quakers don’t live on compounds in the country. Where did that even come from? I’m actually not really that into clothes or fashion, but I do love S&M (which this is actually not, it could be D/s). Writing a comment in reply to a blog post is not a wast of my energy. Why is my opinion/comment a waste of energy and yours not? I didn’t say I was “offended” by it either, but I do think it is sexist, or misogynistic, or both.

  19. Thanks for posting a link to my gallery! I had a blast at this and will definitely be at the next one! likearockstar totally KILLED it.

  20. @17.. I was there and they may have not been “booing”, but there was a lot of tension around my section. Maybe where some of you were they liked it… but there were plenty of uncomfortable people when I was looking. I am not saying this to be a dick or anything… I am only reporting what I saw. I have no comment about how I felt about it because I lose either way here on Slog!

  21. @ 13/14 Lighthearted and fun? Not in my opinion but I will agree with you on Tarboo, the line they presented was interesting and I also liked the designs that were inspired by NYC architecture. Other than that and Prairie Underground it was a mixed bag at best.

    One cannot argue that the crowd was not on their feet at the end but then again The Stranger is always commenting on how easy it is to earn a standing ovation in this town.

  22. @ 20 Agreed, the tension was palpable. If a designer is going for something so obviously offensive (and tired) that designers’ work should be rock solid and not look like leftovers from a Goodwill grab bag.

  23. I was there on Friday, and I had a blast. And I have an MFA in costume design, so there! I loved the rain coats. They were beautifully made and beautifully filled, and there were a whole lot of pieces by the other designers that I would wear in a heartbeat as well. The show did feel under rehearsed, ( I wish the models had taken their time, rather than racing around the circuit) but I found that slight awkwardness understandable (it’s their first show!) and kind of endearing. I also liked the wide range of body type among the models. Fashion isn’t just for people who can fit their butts into a quart size sauce pan after all.
    Oh, and @15, unless you’re a nudist, and even then you’ll still need shoes, you are just as much a participant in fashion as the rest of us. xoxo

  24. I was super bummed to have to miss last Friday’s event and am glad to hear that my co-workers at VAIN killed it right along with Seattle’s creative designers.

    Like a Rockstar: was your controversial and throughly talked about show starter look at all inspired by The Story of O? Damn, that book is hot. And yes, I’m a hardcore feminist. Perhaps the tension people felt was largely because their pants were suddenly a bit tight?

    I know first-hand how hard many many people worked to put this show on, and am stoked it’s all anyone I know talked about this weekend. Nice work, all!

  25. As a fashion designer from the east coast, I was delighted to hear about the Stranger putting on a fashion show in Seattle! The event deserves the support form the community if not only to have it be a continued event. So props to all involved. Well done.

    On that note, I do want to say I would love to see some growth in next years production. A little less burlesque/costume and a little more fashionable well-tailored garments would be ideal. It is the northwest and burlesque is apart of the culture I do understand that, but maybe some maturity all around would be an interesting direction. The finale was fabulous and obviously took a lot of hard work. What I mean is: maybe some ready to wear with a throwback to burlesque could be created, but without actually displaying burlesque pieces? A step away from costume and toward RTW might be appealing (and practical) to the audience (not to mention profitable for some inspired designer).

    The ladies in the raingear were fabulous and brave and I’m all about a little skin, but I fear the designs of the pieces themselves were “hidden” by what was being displayed underneath. There were some really intriguing cuts in the tailoring, but I’m afraid that was lost on most of the audience. Maybe what I would have done was just have one or two of the ladies nude underneath to give the collection that spunk and sass, but keeping the majority in a nude/black/white unitard to allow the audience to pay respect to the quality of the work.

    People will always have their opinions. They are entitled to them. Fashion is fun, let’s not forget that! Again, bravo.

  27. The pictures are really fun, but that slideshow interface is terrible and made me so irritated I quit before getting through all the pics. Slideshows with a set speed and fade-in between the pictures are super annoying – just let me arrow key back and forth through the pictures at my own speed.

  28. Call me when designers can do more than trot women out on leashes. Haven’t men been doing that for the past 2,000 years? It’s a little redundant.

  30. #29 THANK YOU! everyone is all up-in-arms about my sexist slant when they missed the point about my clear racist angle. buffalo is all in white, no? f you

  31. @ 20 and 22: Geez I’m glad I wasn’t sitting in the prude and judgmental section by you folks. Nothing but love for Like a Rock Star from the entire section where I was sitting. All the designers and everyone at the Stranger (who all supported and encouraged LaRS) did an amazing job and deserve due credit. Like a Rock Star pushed it, showed off some amazing looks, had some visible fun, and passion shone through. Bravo to the ladies, the genuine Seattle rock stars who walked, the Stranger, and Like a Rock Star. When Too Fast for Love blasted through the speakers there was nothing but passion, skill, soul, rock, and style on that runway. What more could you ask for? What more could you want?

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