On Sunday, August 27, the Festival of Arts held its 13th annual Festival Runway Fashion Show highlighting creativity, sustainability, and innovation. Festival artists wowed audiences with their creativity and talent constructing outfits from reclaimed, reused, or recycled materials. The runway show, sponsored by Fashion Island, featured a panel of three judges that chose the top looks in four categories while Festival visitors casted their votes for the “People’s Choice Award.”
The Festival Runway Fashion Show was hosted by film production designer Nelson Coates. Selecting the winners were Laguna Beach artist and former costume and set designer, Gerard Basil Stripling; costume designer Salvador Perez; and fashion executive, textile designer, documentary producer and creative director, Suzi Chauvel.
Elizabeth McGhee
WINNER: Most Innovative Use of Materials and People’s Choice Award
Artist Medium: Painting
Elizabeth presents a 1950’s style Bubble Dress which she designed and is modeling herself. It was inspired by the works of oil painter George Seurat. Seurat used a painting technique called Pointillism in which small, distinct dots of color are applied to form an image. Some of the materials Elizabeth used include bubble wrap, plastic bags, newspaper bags, and produce bags. The single use plastics were cut up and trapped in the bubbles
Jayne Dion
WINNER: Most Creative Concept
Artist Medium: Mixed Media
Taking her inspiration from the portrait artist Elizabeth Vigée Le Brun, renowned for her depictions of Marie Antoinette, this creative mind draws from an era when having a female court painter was exceptionally rare. Elizabeth barely made it out of France before the Revolution and we all know what happened to Marie Antoinette! Named “Versailles,” the dress embodies the Robe à la Française style. The ensemble was crafted from a fascinating assortment of materials: aluminum screen doors, hundreds of coke can tabs, trash bags, 16 gage wire, bed sheets, and crepe paper party streamers.
Rowan Foley
WINNER: Most Exciting Ensemble Inspired by a Famous Artist
Artist Medium: Pencil
Rowan wanted to make a Rococo style dress, the style worn by Marie Antoinette. Inspired by this year’s Pageant theme, “Art Colony,” Rowan aimed to pay tribute to the Festival of Arts’ own community of artists. She reached out to as many Festival artists as possible and asked everyone for any paper pieces of art that they might donate for her dress. The entirety of her dress comprises these paper art pieces contributed by her fellow exhibitors.
Nancy Swan
WINNER: Most Glamorous & Elegant Red Carpet Worthy Creation
Artist Medium: Watercolor
Reproducing a silhouette from the Gilded Age, this design is inspired by the colorful paint squares arranged on Nancy Swan’s watercolor palette and pays homage to “Woman in Gold.” by the Austrian artist, Gustav Klimt. Her beautiful dress design includes the use of some interesting materials: The underlying petticoat is made from the bubble wrap her framer puts around her paintings. The bustle and sleeves are created out of used mylar balloons from Nancy’s father’s last birthday celebration at 96. The black skirt is shaped from a trash-bag, with the hand-painted reflective color squares and bodice, fashioned from the insides of over 1,277 breakfast bars, saved one day at a time, since 2020. She ate EVERY ONE herself!!
Linda Potichke
Artist Medium: Jewelry
Her vest is adorned with over 200 individual flowers, ingeniously crafted from cat food lids! The skirt was repurposed from a white bed sheet. Wide gold gift wrap ribbon was used for the sash. Adding to the intrigue, she fashioned an exotic mask from an old lace camisole.
Rick Graves
Artist Medium: Photography
Rick took his inspiration from the Laguna Canyon Tennis Courts and their history here in Laguna Beach. Many famous people have played on these courts, including Laguna Beach artist Roger Kuntz, who is spotlighted in this summer’s Pageant of the Masters. The Goddess and Protector of the Laguna Canyon Tennis Courts arrives on her throne made of over 900 tennis balls. Also used in this masterpiece are old things saved from the tennis court like old nets, tennis balls, tennis racquets and hundreds of feet of tennis racquet string.
Hailey Howard
Artist Medium: Photography
Her aim was simple yet daring: to create a “Red Carpet Ready” gown, despite her admitted struggles with sewing during her junior high and high school years. Embracing the challenge she used plastics and materials that were on her studio shelf. Using heat she molded and shaped the dress. The result: a highly very modern and minimalistic design.