Article by Eder Guzman
Photo credit Arthur Eisenberg
On Tuesday, September 9, the 5th annual EMERGE! Fashion Collective Runway Show was held at the Broad Street Ballroom.
Creator and Producer Dionne Williams opened the show by thanking the sponsors, and awarding the Fashion Innovator award to Beverly Johnson. She was the first woman of color on the cover of American Vogue at the young age of 21.
Danny Nguyen
This fashion show is to promote up and coming designers with huge potential and promise. One of those designers is Danny Nguyen, a well-known creator from Houston, began the show with his Prêt-à-Porter line. The first woman with beard attached to her face, some with an eye patch, or a parrot on their shoulder. Most of their hair is plaited, and their dresses in a pale blue or magenta. The dresses are partly sequin and some are adorned with sheer. At the end, Mr. Nguyen came out, in long dreads and dark glasses, smiling and proud.
The next designer presented was Michael Alan Stein, who has been designing woman’s apparel line for more than 20 years. He studied fashion at The Fashion Institute of Technology, and his clothes have been worn by people like Whitney Houston, Angela Basset and Jennifer Holiday.
Afterwards the designer Jonathan Bund showed his fashion line. He was the most intriguing designer of the bunch, having no biography, and hiding his face behind a bandana and gas mask. His style is more street, full of hoodies and leggings. It is a lot of black and red, with dark red Chinese designs and decorations.
Next up was Tina Hughes, and her line, Tina Marie. Her work is based on natural and organic textiles, and that informs her style. She has a BFA in Fashion Design with knowledge of textile design, and this informs her style. Her line has longer dresses and toned down colors. It is more reminiscent if a 50’s suburban housewife.
Eaden Myles is next up, focusing exclusively on Men’s suits. Hi collection of suits is European inspires, with custom fits, standard fits, and slim fits. The suits range from salmon colored suits to pale blue and pink ones. He ended the show with a black bandana designed blazer, more daring than his initial suits.
The event ended with Danny Nguyen and Danny Nguyen Couture line. It was an ocean theme affair, with multicolored dresses, and a more elegant style, reminiscent of royalty. The last person wore a wedding dresses with sheer and a long tail, along with a mask that covered her face. It was a great end, and was received with a standing ovation.
After the show, I caught up with Danny Ngyuen to get his thoughts on the show. He said it was a good night, for the designers as well as for the crowd. He is glad to see EMERGE! assisting and building the brand of various designers. The similarities between each of the designers are that each had a grand vision, and they all had ideas that were outside the box. His favorite designer was Jonathan Bund, whose Asian inspired line he appreciated. He also hopes to work with AsianinNY in the future, hopefully with his spring line.
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