Columbia Style Week 2013

Columbia Style Week debuted on June 5, 2012 after the town had been buzzing about it for several weeks. As it happens with most inaugural events, there were ups and downs, last-minute readjustments and vitally important lessons to be realized. This year, the Capital City welcomes the second annual Columbia Style Week as it returns with many changes but the same hope and excitement that surrounded the opening year.

Event organizer Alicia Zeigler started Columbia Style Week with the hopes of getting Columbia excited about fashion. She realized that many people around the city believed they had to travel out of town to experience the flash, pomp and excitement of fashion events like Charleston Fashion Week, Atlanta International Fashion Week or Miami Fashion Week. Alicia had experience with modeling and acting as a child in the Bronx, and as an adult, she became involved with the management of models, talent and events in Columbia through FFS Model and Talent Agency. She soon saw a void that she knew she could fill and, after a bit of soul-searching, gathered a team and began working on bringing the sense of excitement that comes with large-scale fashion events to the area she considers home.

Columbia Style Week was successful at securing sponsorships in 2012, including Columbia Metropolitan, especially considering that it was a brand new idea. The event even received a proclamation from Mayor Steve Benjamin that gave it a special air of legitimacy. After that, local businesses such as Audi of Columbia, The Marriot Hotel and 104.7 WNOK quickly came on board, and all were looking forward to creating a new kind of buzz to spread around town.

For many of the businesses involved with Columbia Style Week, the event was an opportunity to reach new audiences, as attendees often came from the farther reaches of the city and the suburbs. Ticketholders were treated to industry panel discussions, retail store presentations and parties, as well as a show by Luis Machicao, the Peruvian-born, Charlotte-based designer who had recently made a splash at Couture Fashion Week in New York. Throughout the week, smaller events built toward the finale, which for Alicia was the jewel in the crown of the whole week. “The finale night was the best part for me,” she says. “Seeing it all come together and having survived it all just really made me say ‘Wow, look what we did.’”

As with any first-time event, there were lessons to be learned. “One important lesson I learned was to check everyone out and make sure they are who they say they are and capable of doing everything they’re promising,” says Alicia. “Whenever you’re putting together a large event and people realize the potential that it has, they see it as an opportunity to get involved and some don’t always have the best intentions. So, checking up on references is very important, as well as making sure that you have enough people on hand to do everything that needs to be done. With last year being the event’s first year, we learned a lot about what to do, what not to do and the details that come up that you don’t know about until you’ve been through the process yourself.”

As a result, there have been some adjustments in the outlook and approach to 2013 Columbia Style Week. To start, event organizers are making plans to move the crux of the event to a new venue. While the Tuesday and Wednesday portions of Columbia Style Week will remain downtown with the help of the Sheraton Columbia Hotel, most of the shows and parties will be moving to Forest Acres.

“This year we will be moving the event to Richland Mall, a 50,000 square foot facility, where we’ll be doing events on the rooftop as well as at the site of the former Parisian department store,” says Alicia.

Richland Mall has undergone many changes in recent years. While mall administrators search for businesses to fill the space that once occupied Parisian, they have come up with creative ways to keep the space active. “Given the economic environment we’ve been in for the past few years, we knew that the chance of landing another big-box national retailer was slim,” says Richland Mall general manager Joe Walker. So, on a temporary basis, the mall has started renting the department store space out for events. “It’s a great large, open space with lots of natural light from a core atrium, and it lends itself well to imaginative decorating,” he says.

Alicia sees the move to a different part of the city as one that fills a need for people who don’t always have easy access to the downtown corridors. As she and her team looked around for a way to meet the needs of the second year, they noticed that most of Columbia’s large-scale events are concentrated in only a few areas of the city. “I appreciate what the Mayor and the City of Columbia are doing with Main Street. They’re doing a wonderful job, and I have been excited to be a part of it in the several small ways that I’ve been able to contribute,” she says. “But on the flip side, I think that sometimes we get so focused on Five Points, the Vista, Main Street and Gervais Street in Columbia that we forget that there’s a whole entire city that sometimes is not being included in the best of the best things that are happening.”

Some of the other reshuffling happening for 2013 includes changes in the ranks of who is involved. While not all of the firms and artists will participate in the second year, some important players in the look of the event are happily returning. While the venue may be different this year, enough designers are returning that there will be some sense of continuity for 2013, including Luis Machicao’s return as featured fashion designer.

Also returning to the fold is Victor De Leon, a hairstylist based in Myrtle Beach, who will serve as the event’s hair director. Victor is considered by many to be a rising star in the world of hair and makeup. He has worked with various celebrities and has built an impressive reputation around South Carolina. While working at a pre event for this year’s Columbia Style Week, Victor received a life changing phone call. Standing in the basement of The Sheraton Columbia Hotel amongst models, hair dryers and drop cloths, he was asked by the person on the other end of the line to travel to Los Angeles in February to style hair at the Academy Awards. It was a chance of a lifetime that many might use to transport their career to a larger metropolitan market like New York or California. Instead, Victor is using the experience to bring what he learned back to venues in Myrtle Beach, Charleston and Columbia. “It’s all about creating, and I love to create. That’s my passion,” says Victor.

As someone who truly enjoys the creative process of hair styling, Victor is excited about returning to Columbia Style Week for a second year. “Working with so many designers, you get to create many different looks, which is what I’m really looking forward to doing,” he says. “Having done the Emmys, the Oscars and also Charleston Fashion Week, I’m really looking forward to taking what I’ve learned in those venues and showing Columbia what’s out there.”

Another talent returning to Columbia Style Week is Maya Troy, founder of MayaQoba’s Fashion Boutique. In the months between the 2012 event and the beginning stages of planning the 2013 event, Maya became pregnant with her first child. The result is that this year, a maternity line has been added to the brightly colored breezy fashions that have become her trademark. With this addition, it seems fitting that this year’s event will also feature a runway presentation showcasing children’s clothing. The Matching Dots, led by Charlotte-based duo Fe Reid and Augusta Justen, will present a line of girls’ clothing known for bright, coordinating colors and patterns.

In 2012, Jennifer Ghelardini showed her collection of sophisticated evening wear to highly favorable reviews from the crowd and local bloggers. The University of South Carolina graduate has studied at the Parsons School of Design and has also worked in the visual arts. Her broad experience brings a more worldly perspective to South Carolina’s fashion circuit. Jai Marshall, a Columbia-based fashion blogger and photographer, found Jennifer’s 2012 Columbia Style Week presentation to be a good balance of edgy and more wearable clothing. “The fabric choices were great and the cuts were amazing,” says Jai. The founder of thefatandskinnyonfashion.com is especially excited to see Jennifer’s 2013 show and has spoken to the designer about the evolution of her work over the past year. “I know she has been working on things. I don’t want to give anything away, but I can say that I am really excited to see her new designs.”

In addition to the variety of runway presentations by regional designers, there will be lots of fun with local personalities of note, according to Alicia. “On Wednesday night we’re going to be doing a runway showcase with local celebrities,” she says. “News anchors, politicians and local who’s who will join us on the runway.”

One returning player will be more prominent in 2013 than in the previous year when it comes to décor and the physical layout of the event. Tammy Watkins participated in Columbia Style Week’s bridal showcase during its first year when Alicia partnered with South Carolina Wedding Co. for the downtown event. This year the North, S.C. based event planning firm is a presenting sponsor, meaning that much of the décor and ambiance will be the creation of Tammy and her team. As Alicia is making plans for the event to be held at Richland Mall, there is great anticipation for what Tammy will accomplish with the space’s high ceilings and mirrored facades.

While the rumblings of change are definitely afoot for Columbia Style Week, Alicia and her team have worked furiously to pull together an event that they hope will make a lasting footprint on the way Columbians view the types of events the city has to offer. Last year introduced a possibility for showcasing style to the city in a new way. This year, Alicia wants to make it known that fashion is for everyone, in all parts of the Capital City. With important lessons and more seasoning than when she started out in 2012, Alicia is ready to bring Columbia Style Week into a brighter spotlight, taking the Columbia Metropolitan area with her as a place to be noticed for fashion and fun.

COLUMBIA STYLE WEEK 2013 SCHEDULE
www.columbiastyleweek.com

Tuesday, June 11
3rd Annual Beautiful People Party by Wink Magazine
Sheraton Columbia Downtown Hotel on Main Street
Hosted by Lauren Talarico of WLTX News 19

Winners of the 25 Most Stylish People in Columbia and the 5 Most Stylish News Anchors will be announced and awarded
Special Designer Collection Preview TBA