Mark your calendars for next Thursday, November 5, from 6:30-8:30 pm: Pearl Disctrict boutique Mabel and Zora is having a Portland release party and book signing for Winona Dimeo-Ediger's debut book "Closet Confidential - Style Secrets Learned the Hard Way." Dimeo-Ediger, a Portland native, writes the popular fashion blog Daddy Likey, and the event sounds like a good time:

Winona will be available to sign books, answer questions, compliment your shoes, dispense fabulous fashion advice and magical fairy dust—and she will also share her "go-to" outfit picks from the Mabel and Zora winter collection.

Bubbles and cookies will be served. Giveaways, and a 15% discount on one Mabel & Zora item per person will be offered. Cocktail wear is encouraged. We hope to see you there!

Bubbles AND cookies? These people know what they're doing.

Sustainable Sunday, the final event of Portland Fashion Week, kicked off with Portland-via-NYC .a fortes design. My first impression was burlap sacks with holes cut in them. My second was the same. My third was of burlap sacks with holes cut in them, creatively dyed. Fashion should flatter the form; there is such a thing as too simple. As I was writing down my burlap sack impressions, my female companion leaned over and said "it looks like they're all wearing paper bags."

Second came Mountains of the Moon, a Chicago designer focusing on eco-friendly materials. Bland, hippie fashion. These dresses would be glamorous only on a commune.

Third, and the highlight of the evening, Jonano was doing something the rest of them weren't—making the models look attractive. Using traditional forms with cashmere and organic cotton, the clothing was sexy and feminine—womanly without being girlish. All of these "eco" designers were aware of the granola, nature-loving side to the Pacific Northwest, but Jonano incorporated it without sacrificing their aesthetic.

Which is exactly the problem French designer Ethos Paris had. The first two-thirds of their run were bland earth tones. Eco doesn't have to mean brown and green. And environmental doesn't mean it has to look like it was drug from the forest. The shapes and styles of the clothing worked well, it was the color choices that failed. Sometimes basic is a synonym for boring.

The main event of the evening, Anna Cohen and Imperial Stock Ranch, began with a classroom-style presentation from Jeanne Carver about the inner-workings and history of the ranch. Carver spoke about the progression of the use of livestock in the modern marketplace. "Our challenge was to look creatively at ways to survive," she said. She went on to talk about reducing carbon footprints (hoof prints?) and finding ways to raise livestock in an environmental manner. The message seemed a little lost on the crowd. They began to fidget. One woman left. Another slept. And I watched yet another motion "over my head" to her friend when Carver brought up slow food.

But how were the clothes? The clothes were a little more...inventive. For example, one model came out in what looked to be wool lingerie. Fortunately the point was in finding new ways to develop materials, because some of the designs weren't sustainable in the sense that people could actually wear them.

All photos, Minh Tran.

Big fashion event! Come to the Ace Hotel this Sunday, October 18th from 5-10 pm for How We Develop’s premiere event, CONTENT (and see this week's new issue of the Mercury for more info). Twenty-eight rooms on the Ace Hotel’s second floor will be showcasing the work of 38 independent Portland designers and open for attendees of all ages to walk through. PLUS live music in the lobby by Dirty Mittens, Nucular Aminals, and Ezra Carey, as well as art and video installations by Minh Tran and Seth Neefus on the main floor.

Speaking of Minh Tran, here’s a video he made for the event:

Don't worry, there will be refreshments, too. Hot damn! Tickets are $10 pre-sale, $12 at the door. Get ‘em here.

Mercantile is hosting an event this Friday, Oct. 16, from 4-7 pm, where you can meet Marcus Wainwright and David Neville, the founders of the kind-of-a-big-deal clothing line rag & bone. These stylish designers will be on hand to meet, greet, and sell during the event, and there will be champagne. Enough said.

...But in case that wasn’t enough, there will also be a DJ and you can get $50 off any rag & bone purchase. Okay-enough said. For real.

Maybe I'm remembering it incorrectly, but this year's venue for Portland Fashion Week, though merely meters away from the site of its 2007 edition in the same Swan Island shipyards, seems like a diminished version of its earlier incarnation—chalk another one up to the Recession. Likewise, the room seemed a little less electrified, and I spied at least one pair of FLIP-FLOPS in attendance. Ugh. Aren't there enough of them on the runway (and does it really be said that if you're modeling in open-toed shoes without a pedicure your toenails should at least be clean? Ugh, again.)? Nonetheless, the disappointment didn't really set in until the runway show was over. There's really no reason to mince words here—most of what was shown was mediocre, and some of it was embarrassing. (I feel better saying so after the improvement of last night.) Gersemi, the Swedish equestrian line—which has plenty of cozy/puffy jackets in its fall collection that appeal to me plenty—went first. It was the same iteration on the standards: riding breetches with sweaters and jackets. But the sicky-sweet pastel palette was, as one person sitting next to me called it, a "boner killer."

Then things really went south. Hit the jump for the gory details.

Last night's first crack at Portland Fashion Week '09 was... something, alright. I'll wait until the photos come in before I expound, but let's just say I hope the worst is over. Tonight's lineup looks like a lot more fun, with sweet looks from Seattle's Suzabelle (a line you may have encountered at Le Train Bleu), fresh looks from young designers representing the Art Institute, as well as the emerging designer showcase (between the two giving us a double dose of one of my favorite local stars, Janeane Marie, participating in both showcases). Ready to see some well executed new ideas!

And so it begins! Tonight Portland Fashion Week kicks off with "Moving Fashion," a night of action-wear from Icebreaker, Defyance, Tony Dimitri, NelliDru Design, and Gersemi. You can read more about it here, but in brief: I like Icebreaker in principle, and their all-wool active-wear is appealing for life and use, but tends to be a bit out of place on the runway. I'm hoping tonight's presentation won't be overly long and that some extra effort will be paid toward making things pop through the styling. I'm anxious to take another look at Defyance, who I first saw at the recent FUSE event. Again I think some of their strongest pieces are quiet, and in terms of first impressions the styling could go either way. Tony Dimitri hasn't thrilled me in the past, and has always struck me as having an LA/Ed Hardy vibe... so obviously I'd like to see a new direction tonight. NelliDru is out of Bend, and the few pieces on the (truly awful) web site look like Clark Kent-for-her suits that are both office-y and athletically tech-y. Regardless they must be seen freed from the confines of that web site (seriously, look at it), which is not doing anybody any favors. I'm perhaps most excited by Gersemi, a Swedish equestrian brand making interesting outdoor-wear that looks pretty damn wearable on or off of a horse (with the exception, perhaps, of the riding breeches). More than anything, though, this is the night where everyone will get to discover what I expect will be another supremely professional production values and a breathtaking venue.

Did you think Portland Fashion Week ended on Sunday? You were so wrong. On Monday, Oct 12, four of Portland's most exciting designers are teaming up to show at Portland Center Stage in the Armory.

Liza Rietz:

Emily Ryan:

Fuchsia Lin:

and Idom:

Unlike the majority of what you'll be seeing this week, this show will be showing clothes for right now—fall and winter, that is. Oh the joy of near-instant gratification!: There will be a trunk show at Rietz and Ryan's shared studio/shop at 2305 NW Savier on October 24, 11 am-6 pm, where you can snap up discounted samples from past collections and put your orders in for new pieces from Rietz and Ryan, plus guest-pieces in the shop from Idom for the day.

To celebrate the conjoining of the noble Northwest Pendleton and the young whippers over at Opening Ceremony, there will be a fashion show of the collaboration this evening downtown at SW Washington and 13th, 6:30 pm.