Loose Leaf Notes

– The following first appeared in The Floyd Press on August 7, 2014

 Floydfest’s first fashion show, Style Revolution, was a showcase of organic fashion and handcrafted designs provided by artisans from the festival’s Vendor Village.   The dramatic presentation – held under the Global Village’s futuristic-styled tent Friday and Saturday night – was themed around the Science Fiction movie The Hunger Games.  It included Olympics-like theater and extravagant costumes that were reminiscent of the ones depicted in the film.  

“I’m straight from the Capitol by way of the Beer and Wine Garden,” said emcee Shamama Lowe, in a reference to the popular movie.  In a black top hat over long pink hair and wearing her signature tutu, Shamama played up her part.  She gave commentary and adlibs on the fashion future outfits, some of which were one-of-a-kind up-cycled creations.

It was fashion from head to toe, from hair-dos and face painting, to footwear, jewelry, leather accessories and even henna tattoos.  There were women on stilts, men in kilts and models of all ages, some experienced and some first-timers.

The runway was lined in tiki torches and the music was fitting for the fanfare, created by DJ Carlito, a Richmond radio host and international music dance party DJ.  Synergy, an organic cotton clothing company based in California, was the main sponsor of the event, and their clothing was well featured.  Green Label Organics and hair braiding by Gaia Yard were two of the Floyd vending booths represented.

A feathered peacock gown from Intergalactic Hobo in Asheville, North Carolina, received oohs and aahs from the audience and was referred to by Shamama as “a fashion tour de force.”   Another outfit elicited the comment, “a perfect touch of rebellion,” keeping the Hunger Games theme alive.

The show’s fashion commentary was written by festival co-founder Erika Johnson, who conceived of the production and took it on as one of her 2014 creative projects.  “Some of this really deserves to be on the red carpet,” she said, describing the high quality factor of the festival’s juried vending and noting that they get three times as many vendor applications than they can accept.   Referring to the festival’s 2014 theme of “rEVOLution,” she added, “Handcrafting is kind of revolutionary, to be still doing it and still supporting it. These are artists in their own right and we want to showcase them.”

Johnson, who was sporting pink and beige cowboy boots, laughed when she described being stopped by a photographer who didn’t know she was the festival co-owner (along with her husband Kris Hodges) and wanted to take pictures of her Floydfest style.

This year Johnson has stepped back from the heat of festival logistics to rejuvenate her own creativity.  Along with the Revolution Style show, Johnson has partnered with Barb Gillespie of Floyd’s Grateful Bread and opened the Revolution Juice and Grateful Bread Bakery, a yurt with an Old World bakery/café feel, offering artisan baked goods and smoothies that incorporate local and organic fruits.

“It might be a precedent,” Johnson said about the Revolution Style Fashion Show, hinting that the event will be an annual addition to the Floyfest scene.  Considering that the festival has a renewed focus on being the best boutique music festival that also promotes green living practices, culture and arts, an artisan fashion show is a likely good fit.

Note: Search “Floydfest 13 Revolution Style” at youtube.com to view video clips of the fashion show. Read an earlier post/Floyd Press story, Floydfest 13: A Transformative Year, HERE.

Photo notes: Emcee Shamama is pictured in the second photo and Erika is pictured with Synergy models on stilts. After the show I met Model Diana Shepherd (pictured right) and designer Stina Anderson backstage. Anderson, from ARTeries Custom Clothing of Asheville, created the up-cycled outfit that Shepherd is wearing, which incorporates faux fur and a kilt-inspired skirt.  I discovered that Stina’s studio is near my son Josh’s Clayspace studio/gallery in Asheville.

The next day I ran into my friend/past Floydian Susanna Smith in Stina’s ARTeries by Stina clothing booth.  We encouraged her to play up the role of model after she tried on these upcylced shorts and top, which she liked so much she purchased.

This is artisan baker Barb Gillepsie and Billy Wright pictured inside the festival’s new Revolution Juice bar and Grateful Bread Bakery.

Johnson, pictured with her and Hodges’ son Tristan in front of the Juice/Bakery yurt, reported that Ziggy Marley, or a member of his team, posted a picture of the Revolution Juice menu on Ziggy’s Facebook page.  It included a drink named Ziggy Marley that was made with mango, watermelon, ginger, lime and coconut water.

____Our World Tuesday