Has it been 10 years already? Yessiree. This year's incarnation of the West 18th Street Fashion Show, "A Decadent Summer," will be the event's tenth annual celebration.
On June 12, Kansas City's most well-produced fashion fiesta will shut down West 18th Street between Wyandotte and Baltimore Avenues. In advance of the whole shebang, we'd like to introduce y'all to a few of the designers whose collections were deemed runway-ready by the show's producers.
Starting with ... Liz Peters.
"I've wanted to be in this show for so long," Peters says. "It's been exciting, every time I've seen it."
Peters is a 21-year-old Kansas City Art Institute student, double-majoring in Fiber and Art History. In that picture over there to the right, she's showing off an incredibly detailed piece she created for Decadent Summer.
"I'm trying to reinvent quilting," Peters says. "I know it's so grandma, but I want it to be glamorous and fun."
The shiny, quilted vest was inspired by 16th- and 17th-century armor, which was made of cloth, not metal, Peters says. "You have to think about what is going to be beautiful and practical," she says.
Peters may only be 21, but she knows what she wants and just how to get it. She's already interned with Kansas City's doyenne of daring design, Peggy Noland. Peters says that when she told Noland how much she loves the prints on KC-native Jeremy Scott's duds, Noland told her about textile designer Gerlan Marcel, who created many of Scott's prints. Now, Peters has it all mapped out: She'll try to meet Marcel at New York City's Fashion Week this fall, while helping Noland with her pop-up shop.
Peters admires Marcel because the designer knows how to work for other people, and how to work for herself. "I really want to make clothes for a living," Peters says. "I don't want a side job. I want to do it."
How decadent are Peters' designs? Feast your eyes on the Decadent Summer runway, June 12. VIP tickets are available here.
