Fashion and music come together again for yet another week of fashion on Miami Beach for Funkshion.
In its third year of production, Funkshion has never been so wildly successful. Housed on the sands of Lummus Park on Miami Beach, press, buyers, retailers, and fashion lovers from around the world filled the tents.
This year, Funkshion managed to bring some of the world’s best designers such as Binetti, Sean John, Vivinne Westwood, and Heatherette. Averaging about five shows a night the tents showcased both fall/winter and spring/summer fashions for men and women.
Keeping attention of those not only those sitting in the front row, the shows ranged in mood and scope, including urban designers, breakout designers, classics and Heatherette, who stand in a category of their own.
With bubbles blowing and a graffiti-covered runway, Heatherette was clearly the show of the week. Showcasing a tribute collection to New York, the collection pieces walked the runway on the bodies of many of the models from MTV’s show 8th and Ocean. Puffed high-heeled booties, plaid and rhinestones appeared all over the collection, amid several imitation creations of the empire state building and taxi checkerboard bathing suits. Accompanied by an appearance of famed transvestite Amanda Lepore with a black and silver sign stating, “Live Your Dreams, I Love Miami,” Heatherette showcased an outstanding ability to show visionary clothing while entertaining the audience.
For the men, Ryan Kenny stole the show with models who weren’t afraid to dance down the runway, “pop their collars” or flash their diamond-studded watches for the cameras. In general, the fashions for men remain somewhat the same as always, with polo shirts and three-button blazers appearing on the runway in almost every show. As for women’s fashions, designers seemed to use a lot of white. Though the shows varied from warm weather to cold weather, the shows displayed a wide range of style and taste that undoubtedly catered to the various people in attendance.
Though the runway shows were the reason for being, music played a large role in making the week what it is; fashion and music. Designers coupled their shows with appropriate soundtracks or DJs that spun live, elevating the atmosphere to that of artistic production.
More successful than ever, Funkshion has managed to capture the attention of the fashion industry and attract more than just Miami locals. Proving the vast growth of Funkshion, Fashion TV broadcast live the opening night show; Baby Phat and Heatherette.
With Funkshion as the fashion of week of Miami, there is no question that this is the only place where Tyson Beckford could make surprise appearance on the runway and members of the crowd can be seen taking photos with Motorola Razr phones while watching Vivinne Westwood. Funkshion never fails to exhibit good music and good fashion.
Joanna Davila can be contacted at j.davila1@umiami.edu.