 "Photo: Rachel Taylor/The Daily Texan")
Textiles and apparel senior Alex King steps over dark-colored scraps of fabric strewn about the floor to cinch a jacket tighter on her model.
Amid the scraps lay the unlikely accessories — an ammo belt and gun holsters — that will complete her clandestine, chic designs.
“I feel like I’m on ‘Project Runway,’” King jokes. “I’ve been working nonstop.”
King will be featured as an emerging designer at this year’s Runway to Heaven Fashion Show along with the fall and winter Versace Collection, chic Los Angeles-based Poleci and nationally renowned Austin designer Linda Asaf.
A portion of the proceeds raised Saturday night will go to the Austin Children’s Shelter and Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas.
The night promises to be one of high class and fashion at The Austonian condominium complex downtown.
As the models and local celebrities walk the runway, several preselected bloggers will have their comments projected on the exterior of the building with lasers.
Throughout the evening, attendees will be able to enjoy cocktails, wine, fresh sushi and frozen yogurt, among other tasty treats.
The event is just one more notch in King’s studded leather belt. After interning with Linda Asaf and other designers in London and Milan, Asaf invited King to show off her designs on the runway.
“Hopefully, this is just going to launch my career that much quicker,” King said. “I’ll have two internships, the fashion show as well as my senior collection in my portfolio. If all goes well, I can get a job right out of college.”
Inspired by Bret Easton Ellis’ novel “Glamorama,” which is about a model who becomes involved with terrorists, King set out to create dangerously sexy looks with dark, edgy color palettes, juxtaposing boots, deceptively loose tops and concealing fringe.
Although some of the looks resemble “Glamo-rambo” more so than “Glamorama,” King uses her previous study of architecture and studio art to marry crisp asymmetrical lines with evocative colors.
The ultimate effect lays somewhere along the lines of James Bond-meets-Twiggy.
King also says she was inspired by military outfits and the fashion of previous decades.
“After I got my idea, it was really just about researching it like any other topic,” King said. “I looked into a lot of military wear. There’s actually a great library for that in London. After that, I began looking at ‘Charlie’s Angels’ and fashion from the ‘70s and ‘80s. My hope, though, is to take that spirit of rock ‘n’ roll from those decades and make it into something more wearable. I want to bring some of that freedom of fashion you still see in Europe back with me to Austin.”
WHAT: Runway to Heaven Fashion Show
WHERE: The Austonian, 200 Congress Ave.
WHEN: Saturday 7 - 9 p.m. afterparty 9 - 11 p.m.
TICKETS: $40 for students (with ID); $90 for general admission
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