On Sunday, I went to a great independent fashion event called the Thread Show. What is it? Here are a couple of quotes from their site:
THREAD is a curated showcase of the best emerging, trend forecasting, style breaking, genre bending fashion designers, and the music and art that rock their world.
THREAD is a dynamic one day retail environment, bringing new fashion and art to more than 200,000 fashion savvy, trend pushing, music loving, taste making movers and shakers, all keen to get first dibs on what drops next in the emerging fashion designer world.
The San Diego event was held in a “recycled” space at the Horton Plaza mall and reminded me of a space out in the Reseda/Ventura area that held several booths of independent vendors selling everything from handmade jewelry and fashions to vintage and reworked items. The Thread Show, however, premieres up and coming fashion, accessory and home-wear designers. It also includes a salon, a bar, a DJ, food samples from local eateries and two runway fashion shows. Since this was my first time attending, I walked around a little to get a feel for the event.
One of the first vendors I stopped and made a purchase from was called Double Take Fashion. Owned by identical twins Nicole and Shelley Dozier, they began their business as a way to cope with their own personal illness. They are based in Los Angeles and this was their first time at the Thread Show. The little bolero jacket Nicole is wearing is adorable in person.
A booth called Nifty Curly was one that I stopped at briefly, then came back to to really dig into all of the wonderful pieces they had available. Ellen of Nifty Curly stated that the pieces are “Upcycled Handmade”, meaning they get their leather pieces directly from apparel, accessory and furniture manufacturers to get the best quality possible. There were so many pieces to select from! My purchase for the day was the cute little button ring that had a gold leather band (third picture down of the Nifty Curly series). Other standout pieces included coated leather leaf pendants (they looked so life-like), the “Wonder Woman” leather cuffs, and the leather wrap-around wrist bracelets that were actually hidden wallets!
My final purchase came from a booth called De La Luna Designs. At first, I thought that the pieces had artwork on them. I found out later through their website and after talking to the designer, Virginia Ayala, that they are re-worked vintage pieces. The purse that I purchased was a vintage snake-skin purse with a cut-out fabric flower that was coated onto the purse. The resulting look is amazing, as you can see in the pictures below. They sell their items wholesale and their website has locations on where you can purchase these one-of-a-kind pieces. I also love their tagline: “Bringing Earth To Life Through Design.”
My day at the Thread Show ended with a fashion show, showcasing some of the designers who had booths at the event. Because of where I was standing and the fact that I didn’t have my husband’s wonderful camera, my pictures were less than worthy. I included just one of the shots of the runway where I had an actual full shot of an outfit. Note to self: take the hubby or another friend to future events to allow for better photo coverage.
I absolutely loved going to the Thread Show and I have to thank my friend for turning me onto this fantastic event (that’s you Christina!). In chatting with Dara from Elle Communications (a local PR, marketing and event planning company whose client is Thread Show), I found out that this is a seasonal event occurring during the spring and fall. Because of the indie vibe and exciting atmosphere, rest assured that this is an event that I will be attending season after season, whether it’s here in San Diego or elsewhere.