Winston curated fashion showcase with 3 local designers
Kisha Winston’s sold-out ‘Everything 100 Fashion Show,’ powered by her eclectic apparel line,The Woke Brand, sparked flames figuratively and literally on Sunday.
From the fire breather to the hottest styles of the season, the showcase captivated the audience from start to finish.
Charismatic Dacia “Innergy” Polk, poet and creator of the open mic series WordUp!, brought it all home with a feast for the ears as the event’s host.
Kay’s Kitchen featured a feast of a different kind with palate-pleasing baked chicken, oven-roasted potatoes, grilled asparagus and home-made rolls.
The evening rolled to the mixings of Fred “DJ Smoooth” Head; vocals and keys by Katarra Parson; and spoken word by Louis Conphliction. Energy rose to a higher level when fire-breathing dancer Sierra ‘Firecraze” Zimmer lit up the stage.
The local dance group Lou Kids busted out their best moves while showing off signature Woke Brand hoodies in red, green, yellow, blue and orange.
Winston’s pieces stayed true to her quirky design aesthetic,which included camouflage jackets with large sparkly faces with exaggerated stuck-out tongues, reminiscent of the old Rolling Stones logo. She also showed acid wash jean jackets, accented with fun patchwork.
She also stepped into new territory, working with Kay Walker, who helped with more intricate designs, including a highlight that featured an orange camouflage winter coat with the brand’s logo on the back.
“I was excited to show looks that required seamstress work, which is what my heart and mind has been on for some time,” Winston said. “Being a one-woman shop, I wasn’t able to bring that to life before, but I was pleased to construct pieces different from my typical norm.”
1026 styles by Mccleary
Pierre Mccleary’s line, 1026 Styles, stunned the crowd when her youngest model, 8-year-old Ja’el Rai,strutted her stuff in a red tulle dress. Other pieces in her line included a navy-blue A-line skirt with huge polka dots, a black puffy tulle dress, and a red and green Afrocentric dress.
Fashion drama of the good kind continued with fierce sounds. “Already,” off Beyonce’s visual album “Black Is King” enhanced by music from “The Lion King — “The Gift” — was a fitting introduction to Adjo Honsou’s Tribe28 line.
Honsou paid homage to her West African roots, presenting evening gowns and jumpsuits covered in bold geometric patterns. She also revealed elegant gowns in gold for those more attuned to glam.
Kawana Waddell of Style-Taneous Styles’ line was appropriate for the whole family. She is a one-stop-shop for young girls who enjoy dressing up in mommy’s closet, men who like to be trendy, and the everyday woman who loves to be chic and well-dressed for all occasions.
Waddell’s line featured luxurious black leather ensembles and bling galore from faux diamond-encrusted fishnet leggings to blouses with dramatic puffy sleeves.
“I decided to have dressier items, including holiday wear, even if it’s just you sitting in the living room on Zoom,” Waddell said. “I liked the idea of showcasing more custom pieces with tulle such as gowns, dresses, and robes. Most of my pieces are great after-5 styles if you love to wear dressier looks.”
Winston’s vision for the evening was motivated by a desire to provide an experience where everyone demonstrated extraordinary execution from DJ to models.
“I wanted to organize something that would be fluent and show my organizational skills, while requiring everyone to contribute skill sets comparable to 100 percent satisfaction.” Winston said.
Pandemic changes plans
She originally planned to hold a fashion show last year on a downtown St. Louis street, but she ran into roadblocks surrounding licenses, ordinances, and regulations that stipulated conditions under which streets can be closed. Then, when she decided to have the show this year, she was faced with COVID-19.
Thanks to COVID, restrictions governing crowds, Winston was required to lower attendance from 50 percent to 25 percent, igniting the idea to host a VIP fashion show at the Mahler Ballroom in the Central West End. The $100-$150 price point was designed to create a sense of exclusivity, especially since fewer people would attend.
“After traveling to fashion shows in other cities, I gained the inspiration to set a new standard for St. Louis by introducing an experience such as a VIP fashion show,” Winston said. “With the pandemic, it turned into a compromise, having to lessen the amount of people, but I still wanted to push through and continue the show.”
The Woke Brand grew out of a spiritual awakening that started with a series of courses In Transcendental Meditation, a technique that involves extended periods of sitting in silence to achieve calm.
“When we take away all the identifiers such as name, birthdate, race, gender, sex, who am I? In finding that I created The Woke Brand,” Winston said.
The Woke Brand can be found on Facebook, Instagram, and at https://www.officialwokebrand.com/.
The Woke Brand brick-and-mortar store is at 3018 S. Jefferson Ave.