Fashion Fest MKE meets The Yard at Bayshore | A CopyWrite Sponsored Event
/What a show! We hope you had the chance to stop by Fashion Fest MKE at The Yard located in the center of Bayshore Mall. They had it all—including the heat! Countless vendors, a full DJ booth, food trucks, live performances, interactive art and so much more. CopyWrite even partnered up with Fashion Fest MKE, hosting a “Best Dressed” contest to see who was really going to bring that personal fire. Hopefully the odds were in your favor!
The event featured three different fashion shows with diverse fashion styles. It also gave people of color and of all diasporas a space to flourish authentically with fashion as a common thread. Without making it a marketing tactic, they showed a type of inclusivity we all should be thriving for when planning public events.
The way the otherwise very normal green space was transformed into a festival grounds was nothing less than amazing. We even had the chance to catch up with one of the many talented designers, Maria Olsson, whose fashion collection ‘Mishka’ made its unique and one-of-a-kind appearance down the runway.
What can you tell us about your collection?
My collection is an elevated streetwear collection that uses PVC vinyl and a lot of leather work to portray the complex emotions that we all feel when we’re feeling empty inside. So I wanted to use a lot of different silhouettes and play with nude illusions to kind of capture that concept.
For your next collection, what do you think you’ll change or keep in comparison to this selection we’ve just experienced?
I definitely want to keep using interesting textiles. That’s probably my favorite thing about design is taking anything I can find and turning it into something amazing. But I think I want to lean a little more into metal working instead of leather working and keep learning and experimenting as I go.
What inspired you to start using those different kinds of textures?
I’ve always been inspired to just push myself and try new things because I think that’s the best way you can get better—always being in competition with yourself. In school, I was always drawn to these textiles so I'm very grateful to have teachers that were willing to work with me and further my learning. The vinyl, specifically, I found when I was doing my internship in New York last summer and I fell in love with it, oh my god. It’s the craziest fabric I've ever used, it’s so different, it stretches like crazy—which isn’t the best thing but I've learned a lot by using it.
How does it feel to be a part of this type of showcase? I know the purpose of this event was to really bring people together in spaces we don’t normally take up or as creatives, see ourselves in.
I think it’s amazing. I think it’s so great meeting so many new designers in Milwaukee that I’ve never met before, interacting with so many different models in the industry, just all of it. I’m so excited to keep doing shows like this and bringing more attention to Milwaukee.
So whether you’re a fashionista, a shopaholic, or a music head, the next Fashion Fest MKE event is where you need to be. So make sure you’re strutting your way to their next event and we will see you there!
/Imani for CW
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