Passion for fashion
MNfashion Week at the forefront of emerging scene
Circling a dimly-lit bar crowded with trendy twentysomethings, listening to talk of spring lines and independent boutiques, I feel a bit lost. Watching Zoolander is about as close as I’ve come to high fashion before this and it’s hard not to think of the vapid, self-congratulating models and designers of that movie as I weave among the denizens of the Twin Cities’ fashion world. The DJ spinning “Relax” by Frankie Goes to Hollywood—was that a deliberate reference?—doesn’t help.
But as I keep talking to the attendees of this Preview Party for MNfashion Week, held at AZIA’s Caterpillar Lounge on April 9, I realize they have nothing in common with Zoolander’s fashion stereotypes. For one thing, not one of them looks a day over 30, and they pass words like “organic” and “localization” back and forth with their business cards. One young model tells me of his plans to go to India to shoot a documentary promoting organic farming there. Another pauses in her catwalk stride across the room to talk about her job as a producer for public television. Clearly, the Twin Cities’ growing fashion scene isn’t just …
