Art Hearts Fashion
Burning Guitars, Datari Austin and Siwy Denim presented spring and summer 2018 collections at Art Hearts Fashion’s Sept. 29 show at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills. The evening got off to a rocky start with the shows starting more than an hour late and the first two designers — Datari Austin and Burning Guitars — showing collections that were entertaining yet failed to meet the mark. Burning Guitars’ collection was bold, brash and too over-the-top for anyone but a rock ’n’ roll frontman, while Datari Austin used fabrics that came across as a little blasé and — dare we say — cheap.
The highlight of the evening was the L.A.-based brand Siwy Denim and its spring and summer 2018 “Zip Me Up!” collection, which featured apparel that blended a modern ’80s vibe with sporty/edgy details. Think zippers, snaps, stripes and holes all placed in unexpected areas and designed for versatility and the capacity to transition an outfit from a casual day look to a bold night look in just one zip. The color palette included a sea of blues, white, black, light gray and olive. Kris Park, chief executive of Siwy Denim, wants the brand to be viewed as a lifestyle brand for all women and for all occasions.
“We wanted to show something different. Clothes that could be worn to work, then unzipped to something more trendy to wear out,” Park told us.
We couldn’t help but notice that each of the models hit the catwalk carrying a cellphone, which could have been intended as a commentary on the ubiquity of technology, but for us simply turned the runway from exotic adventure into everyday occurrence.