EMERGING DESIGNER

Battle of the Runways-1

IN THIS FEATURE: Meet Corazon Meet Emnace

eattle, Washington is becoming a mecca for Emerging Designers...Jewels Fashion Lounge brought the 'Battle of the Runway' to the Vera Project at the Seattle Center. The Seattle Center is a community gathering place that focuses on cultural and educational enlightment. The Vera Project, a cultural center run for youths by youths, is located in the heart of the Seattle Center. Jewels Fashion Lounge hand-picked the top emerging designers to compete before three judges with the winner taking home a nice cash prize and bragging rights. MyCloset.com was thrilled to see the new designers: Emnace, Vegas Mode, Divine Design, Dos Cubanas, Jessica Bravo, Twine Design, Corazon by Sigmund Designs and Presidential Clothing rock the house during their individual sets of 15 looks each. All of the fashions were uniquely interesting, but MyCloset.com has chosen five of the crowd favorites. These crowd favorites will be featured in two sequential stories. And as a bonus, the winner of the 'Battle of the Runway' will also have an exclusive honorary feature on MyCloset.com.

Corazon by Sigmund Design made its U.S. debut at the Battle of the Runway. The audience and judges were wowed by the explosion of luxurious color. The beautifully beaded gowns shimmered in a variety of materials in rich ripe blood orange, tangerine and merlot colors. The show, capped with a wedding scene including groom, bridesmaids, and bride, fully demonstrated the designers ability to dress entire wedding parties in a uniquely traditional way.

Sigmund Parel, based in the Philippines, has been working in the fashion industry for 10 years. This year with family aid and encouragement, he opened a small boutique in Baguio City in the Philippines and brought his line to Seattle as a take-off point for conquering the U.S. Featuring bridal and formal wear, the traditional designs of the Philippines are obvious in Corazon designs. The stunning ladies gowns are made of primarily silk, chiffon, and organza, and the men's outfits, based on the Barong Tagalog or traditional wedding and formal wear for Filipino men and women, are sewn from either Pina, a fiber hand-made from the leaves of the pineapple plant or jusi cloth.

Pina is made in a process that includes each strand being hand-scraped and knotted in a continuous filament for hand-weaving into Pina cloth. The resulting cloth is soft and has a high luster. Usually white or ivory in color, it is very expensive and often used for the most formal of occasions. Jusi is a mechanically woven fabric once made from abacca or banana silk. Barong Tagalog producers in the Philippines have newly developed a Pina-Jusi blend that is proving quite popular as well as it provides the best attributes of both with less cost than Pina fabric.