Backstage @ FUSE

FUSE was an absolutely incredible show - one of the biggest and most gorgeous fashion shows produced in PDX. I'm still blown away by how grand and beautiful everything was! It was hosted in the ballroom of the Portland Art Museum, featuring dozens of top Portland designers and elite designers from Bejing, China.

Behind the scenes, my day started at 4pm, when I landed at Smashcut Studios to start on the makeup for the models. Myself, Nadia Kingston, Carrie Hamm, George M, and Caprice Hammon were the Makeup Artists for the show. Anyone who knows Caprice, knows they are working with the best! Caprice created the two look for us to style the models with, and the Smashcut Hair team was right behind us. When I arrived a bit before 4pm, we were told that the models were running about an hour behind! That's normal how things go :) It wasn't till later that the lost hour really put us into crunch time!

The models arrived by shuttle at 5pm, and we set to work at once. I finished my girls, and playfully reprimanded them not to lose ALL their lipstick as they giggled and went off to Starbucks. The shuttle arrived around 7:30 to take us all over to the Portland Art Museum. Arriving at the red carpet, we made our way thru and into the main ballroom to the runway. I was blown away by the beauty of it!



We moved on to the dressing rooms backstage and it was a flurry of models, designers, hair stylists and makeup artists. We had 8 more ladies to do their makeup on and 5 men! - and the show started at 9pm. I wish I could have gotten some pictures of all the hurry back there. It was an amazing rush of adrenaline - at one point one of my models was perched on a high table as I'm attaching her fake eyelashes, back to back with Caprice applying blush to her model and George asking if anyone has any more of the Look 2 lipstick - and the show manager is running past the door raising his voice over the chaos "FIFTEEN MINUTES till showtime. And we ARE starting on TIME". I wasn't worried, I knew we would have all the models ready in time. It was down to the wire, but at 2 minutes to the show, we were complete, everyone was dressed and we were backstage and poised :)



Watching the models walk in the lovely designs was another thing altogether. The lights, the music - it was one of the best show this town has ever seen! (here are some pics from the show)

International Fashion Show - FUSE - tomorrow!

SUPER psyched about tomorrow's Fashion Show - I'm going to be on the team of Makeup Artist's for the show. :) It's going to be freaking awesome.




http://www.katu.com/entertainment/events/59058922.html

Portland Fashion Synergy Presents

— FUSE —

A Black Tie Fashion Show Fundraiser

featuring designers from China and Portland

Friday, September 25, 2009
Portland Art Museum Kridel Grand Ballroom

1219 SW Park Avenue

Red-Carpet Pre-Party at 7 pm

Doors Open/Seating Starts at 8 pm

Fashion Show at 9 pm

Off-Site After Party Immediately Following

VIP Seating $150

General Admission $100

Tickets at www.pdxfashionsynergy.com/FUSE/

Ticket prices include a one-year PDXFS membership!

PDXFS Thanks Premier Partners and Sponsors:

Portland Art Museum , Art Institute of Portland, Mario's & Smashcut

All proceeds to Fuse an international fashion show support education scholarships, programs and events that create and expand business opportunities for current and next generation apparel industry professionals and support a thriving and sustainable apparel industry in Portland, Oregon.

FUSE is the highlight of a visit to Portland by a delegation of distinguished Chinese guests from the local government, university and fashion association in Zhengzhou, in the Chinese province of Henan. PDXFS is developing a strategic business relationship with this group in order to create professional and economic growth opportunities for Portland designers and students by opening the door to China and positioning Portland as a center for sophisticated, cutting edge design in the United States. As part of this relationship, PDXFS is exploring opportunities for student exchange between Chinese and Portland-based apparel design and manufacturing programs, and is discussing options for selling apparel from Portland designers to the Chinese market.

Our deadlines are tight and we’re moving fast. If you would like to participate in FUSE and related activities as a designer, boutique owner, sponsor or donor, please contact us today at info@pdxfashionsynergy.com!

In related news, PDXFS also announced that it is partnering with the Portland Art Museum to provide a fashion component for the gala opening event, as a part of their upcoming exhibit, China Design Now (October 10, 2009 – January 17, 2010). PDXFS will be providing eight exclusive looks from famous Chinese fashion designer, Chong Jing, to showcase during the cocktail hour. Visit www.portlandartmuseum.org for event details.

Mr T PDX

I finally had the opportunity to work with "Mr T" and it was such a great shoot. The lovely Miss Meredith was our subject that day and I am once again struck by her ability to create emotional images. Mr T was upbeat, and absolutely hilarious. And LOOK at the beautiful work he captured! He wanted me to create a "Twiggy" inspired look for Meredith, and with her beautiful eyes it was a simple masterpiece. Bravo my friends!

Spotlight: Designer, Michelle DeCourcy

"Michelle DeCourcy has been designing women's fashion since 2000, and has appeared in People, Cosmopolitan, Vogue Europe, Lucky, In Style and the LA Times. Her designs have been worn by scores of recording and film industry celebrities including: Norah Jones, Faith Hill, Sheryl Crow, Christina Aguilera, Michelle Branch, Mary Kate Olsen and Allison Krauss. For more information: www.MichelleDecourcy.com."

I had the most amazing opportunity last week to work intimately with Michelle DeCourcy for her Spring 2010 Collection, "La Vie". I was called to be the key Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist for the shoot! Talk about excited :D This shoot was to showcase her new line, and the images are now gracing her website - www.MichelleDecourcy.com.

When we met for the fitting for model, Jillian Rabe, I was, of course, a little nervous. But Michelle was so warm and down to earth, it was such a pleasure to work with her! She even told me that I reminded her so much of "Jennifer". (Aniston!) Ha! Well, she would know better than I :) Michelle and I hand-picked the half dozen pieces that were to be showcased by Jillian, and I fell in love with every piece I touched. Michelle truly knows how to create impeccably designed clothes that are chic, and stylish but also SO comfortable that you want to just wrap yourself up in them eveyday.

Michelle and I talked in detail about the look that she wanted to define her Spring 2010 collection. Beautiful, clean skin, wide and playful eyes, and a pop of fuschia colored lips. Hair that's touchable and beach-y! Not too polished, but still stylish. Sort of the grown up "rocker girl" she described. :) I was so pleased that Michelle loved the work I did on Jillian! She did mention that she's had horrible MUA's in LA, and it was so nice to have one that nailed it on the head the first time. :) Yay :)











Press:
"After an 18 month self-prescribed hiatus, Portland fashion designer Michelle DeCourcy will mark her return on the runway at Portland Fashion Week's Designer Collections Show on Friday, October 9th. Her new line - La Vie is scheduled for release in Spring 2010, and makes its debut at the annual fashion show that celebrates Portland's top design talent."

Bernadette

Yesterday I had the absolute pleasure of shooting Bernadette in the studio - she was so much fun! She wanted to add a casual lifestyle/ fall-feeling look to her portfolio, so out came the hats and sweaters! With her fiery red hair and her bright eyes, it's been super hard to choose from so many pictures. Fantastic! :)

Hair.Makeup.Photo by me.

Sierra

Last week I had new model, Sierra, over to give her a more sophisticated look for her portfolio. We went over model posing, use of light and overall just learning how to relate to the camera. She was such a sweet girl and we had alot of fun! Look at the cute pics we got!

Hair.Makeup.Photo by me.

Alyssa Lei

Earlier this week, Alyssa came and we went over some ideas she wanted to add to her portfolio. Something soft and romantic, and then maybe something fun with bright makeup. For the first I ended up using some flowers and soft lighting to create the effect she wanted, and then for the second, I had some crazy fiery fabric that I framing around her face with some colorful makeup to match. It was really fun, and we got some great shots! Here's a few!

Hair.Makeup.Photo by me.

Erica Annie

Last week was one of my favorite shoots ever :) I have been thinking about this concept for a long time, and, being a Makeup Artist - I knew I'd have enough things handy to pull it off! Erica was the perfect model for this - beautiful, funny and easy to work with. My friend Valerie came over and was so patient with me as I directed her to move pieces of product here, there, no, over there lol. I wanted this to be (obviously) very girly, but also with a sense of maturity and womanliness - and Erica truly captured it all!

Hair.Makeup.Photo by me.

Miss Mary

Oh my gosh, I can't believe I haven't updated in so long. It's been so insanely busy! Mary came over the week and we did a very fun shoot with her. First we did a set with her reminiscent of old Hollywood glamour. Very fun! What I loved about Mary was that although she is a young woman, she has a very mature look about her. So she was easily able to pull off these looks. Then we gave her a soft, touchable look with some windswept hair. Lovely!

Hair/Makeup/Photography by me.