La Mode: An International Evening of Fashion

Dawn and I attended this event tonight in Renton, WA. The MC's were Nick Verreos and Andrae Gonzalo from Project Runway.

The evening started off with the two of them chatting up the crowd about how they got into the fashion business and what their influences were. Nick said he was influenced by the Love Boat, the Carole Burnett Show and flight attendants. He drew a whole collection from his fascination of flight attendants. He also said his mother was a huge support and took him to trunk shows at the age of 12.

Andrae started with curtain slips his grandmother gave him and his sister. He said no sheet was safe in their house!

There were 4 themes for the night: Africa, Great Britain, Middle East, and Asia. We saw some really incredible dresses, coats, evening gowns, bridal wear and costumes.

In the first section, Africa, there was this adorable yellow shirt dress with a bloody heart and a saw on the back. It was designed by Elizabeth Dean, who actually ended up winning the Daywear Designers section for that dress. She called it the "Heartbreak dress". I want it!

In the 2nd section, Great Britain, Jacket and Costume Designers, Ginger Bellus won for her Marie Antoinette style pink costume dress, it was really elaborate and beautiful. There was a great baby blue men's jacket with a satin orange lining and large orange buttons - I loved the buttons, the orange accents were amazing!!

Int the 3rd section, Middle East, Cocktail designers, Jessica Keen won for her Holly Hobby inspired dress. She said she loves bows and ruffles. There were alot of beautiful dresses in this section, I would have worn all of them... There was one that was pink with large flowers at the bottom, it looked very 50's inspired - I just adored it.

And in the last section, Asia, Evening, Ballroom and Bridal Designers, Ava Fernandes won for her African inspired dresses. One was yellow and flaired out at the bottom and the other was a champagne colored dress with "grass" at the bottom. They were lovely! This was a hard one b/c I saw many dresses I would love to own. Especially this electric blue number at the end...

The evening ended with the designers and models all walking the catwalk, which was followed by a VIP reception. Dawn and I snacked on chicken and waited for Nick and Andrae to head over. We tried to get a picture with both designers but Nick was tied up... So we were only able to get one picture as we didn't want to be "those girls"... ya know... He was friendly to chat with and actually sounded interested in hearing about Urban Fashion Network. He took our card and told us how it sounded like a terrific idea. Now, let's hope he checks us out - that would be wonderful! He was so nice, I'm glad we waited to get a picture.

Go here to view pictures from the event - we can't wait till the next one! If you didn't attend, YOU SHOULD!!