Raymond Van Tussel Photography
Annamarta Dostourian is an artist and designer based in Berkeley, California who will once again be presenting a new collection at Hot Couture 2014.
Raymond Van Tussel Photography
Annamarta Dostourian is an artist and designer based in Berkeley, California who will once again be presenting a new collection at Hot Couture 2014.
Photos courtesy of Heather Wakefield.
Heather Wakefield has been sewing things since she was a child. It really does not take much to get her going creatively and she describes her studio, Satellite Art Station, as “a large, timeless, magical place
With the fashion back on hangers, the runway disassembled and the fire poofers put away (for now), we wanted to take a moment and thank The Crucible community for helping make our second Hot Couture fashion show even hotter, more creative and dynamic than we dared imagine.
We could not have put on two sold-out nights of fashion, fire and industry without the talents of our featured design teams including Alex Glowaski, Annamarta Dostourian, Avant Vouge, Bonde, Erin Mahoney and O’Lover Hats, Coyote Counter Collective, Heather Wakefield, Jeaneen Brunck, Latex Fashionistas, and SENSOREE Design Lab. Thanks to Bianca Starr Productions there was a method to our madness which showed off beautifully on the recycled aluminum stage donated by CASS.
We are incredibly grateful for the overwhelming support from the press which included a front page feature of the San Francisco Chronicle Style Section. Hot Couture was also the Editor’s Pick at Diablo Magazine, East Bay Express and Flavorpill, and enjoyed positive reviews from Oakland Magazine, Oakland North, Oakland Local, Mercury News, Makezine Blog, Fecal Face, Examiner and Just Luxe Living.
Were you inspired by what you saw at Hot Couture? Want to learn sewing basics? We have a class for that! How about lighting up your wardrobe with LEDs for the summer party season? We can help you demystify that Light Emitting Diode. Want to make fashion forward jewelry? Learn to design, anneal and shape a special piece, which until now only existed in your imagination. Or perhaps you want to get up on stage and dance with fire? – You’ll want to sign up for a Fire Performance class where you can learn to hoop, spin and even eat fire.
Come and join the fun!
Photo on right by Chris Willis. Jeaneen Brunck design.
In our final Designer Spotlight, staff writer Sarah Dabby chats with maker-artist Alex Glowaski to discuss brainwave-reactive headsets, internet-enabled pieces, and her huge dreams for Hot Couture and beyond. She will be showing two pieces at The Crucible’s Hot Couture: A Fusion of Fashion and Fire on January 11-12, 2013.
Alex Glowaski is a tech support tank and brainwave enthusiast. Before moving to San Francisco, she lived in Ann Arbor, where she received a Spanish degree and directed the city’s “All Hands Active” hacker space. Now immersed in San Francisco, she works at Sauce Labs and has co-founded a hardware development group called ProtoTank.
Follow Alex on Twitter @glowascii.
In anticipation of The Crucible’s upcoming Hot Couture Fashion Show on January 11 & 12, 2013, The Crucible staff writer Sarah Dabby chats with wearable art specialist Scatha G. Allison to learn more about her design background, her project Miss Velvet Cream, what she plans to show at Hot Couture, and why she thinks Hot Couture is “the show to be at” in 2013.
Miss Velvet Cream is neo-couture clothing created by Scatha G. Allison that embodies silhouettes of the past with dreams of the future, all bridged by the conscious present. Allison’s design is guided by aesthetics of construction and innovation that are individualized, craft-intensive and committed to excellence in quality, wearability and above all, beauty.
Allison created outfits for Hot Couture 2008 at The Crucible and has designed and worked on projects with the YBAC Artists Ball, The Exploratorium, Second Skin Project, Vau De Vire, Bad Unkl Sista, SF Boylesque, Headmistress Dance Troupe, The Luggage Store Gallery, In The Street Arts Festival, Black Rock Arts Foundation, Pyroglyphicks, Burning Man Festival in Nevada and numerous private collections and commissioned projects.
As The Crucible’s Hot Couture Fashion Show on January 11 & 12, 2013 approaches, staff writer Sarah Dabby chats with faculty member, leather artist, and Hot Couture designer Sam Waller to learn more about his pieces, his team and The Crucible’s integral role in his success.
Sam, a self-taught leather artist, joined The Crucible faculty in September 2011. His work, which draws on fantasy and pre-Renaissance themes, has been featured throughout shows and boutiques in Oakland and Indianapolis. His Designer and Artist team includes Courtney Pheils and Celeste Flores.
In celebration of The Crucible’s 14th Anniversary, we are excited to present Hot Couture: A Fusion of Fashion & Fire on January 11 & 12, 2013. Melding high fashion with industrial art, Hot Couture features world-class fire demonstrations, aerial artistry and a blazing showcase of wearable art from Bay Area designers.
Hot Couture will showcase creations from artist and fashion designers teams producing over 40 design concepts that illlustrate the intersection between fashion, traditional industrial materials and fabrication. Pieces will include a stained glass couture gown, custom corsetry embellished with interactive LED sensors and embedded 3D imagery, and warrior couture with welded steel and embossed leather.
The evening includes a special performance by Heather Katz on a fire-breathing violin constructed by Peter Kropf, accompanied by the dynamic aerial artistry of Rose Nisker.
Featured design houses and creators include:
Bianca Starr Productions is bringing style from within through fashion coordination.
CASS, our official recycling partner and funders of our youth internship program, is the event sponsor for our stage and runway and has supplied forty tons of compacted aluminum for the construction of the stage and runway.
Proceeds from Hot Couture 2013 will benefit The Crucible’s educational programs.
The Crucible is a nonprofit arts education facility serving more than 5,000 students through youth and adult arts education programs each year with a dedicated mission to Arts, Industry, and Community. Through training in the fine and industrial arts, The Crucible promotes creative expression, reuse of materials, and innovative design, while serving as an accessible arts venue for the general public.
The Crucible, 1260 7th Street, Oakland, CA 94607 [map]
Press contacts: Kristy Alfieri (Education Director) kristy@thecrucible.org / Steven Young (Executive Director) stevenyoung@thecrucible.org / Sarah Dabby (Communications) sdabby@thecrucible.org
Photos from Hot Couture 2008
The Crucible’s Hot Couture 2013 is possible through the generous sponsorship and donations from:
Photos courtesy of SENSOREE.
To SENSOREE Design Lab, 2013 is the year of communication. At Hot Couture, SENSOREE will premier five new interactive designs that speak to the self, each other and the spacial environment. Under the theme “Home-aid” they craft future design couture from the DIY to bring awareness, interaction and health of the self.
Team lead and SENSOREE founder Kristin Neidlinger crafts phenomenal technology to enhance and expand physical embodiment. She is interested in how technology increases body awareness and to what extents. A classically trained ballerina, she holds an MFA in Interactive Design from CCA and has worked as a Dance Medicine Specialist and kinetic costume designer. She has performed and exhibited works from Berlin to Belgium to Brazil and for the next two years her work is touring with Futurotextiles 3.
Greg Ames is SENSOREE’s Electrical Sound Wizard. From his early pre-teen years, Greg has been involved with electronics and music. After college, he was involved in professional audio, building recording studios, traveling as an audio engineer and working for Disney. He later transitioned to a career in the computer industry, being fortunate enough to get involved with Apple Computer very early on, working there on and off for more than 17 years. He has expertise in internet and small embedded solutions including Atmel/Arduino and looks forward to providing technology solutions for art and education.
Anthony “Asterisk” Ambuehl handles wiring, programming and metal fabrication. As an active member with Sensoree, Flux Foundation and Flaming Lotus Girls, he does whatever necessary to make art happen.
David Dawson is a fashion sculptor and once upon a time, co-owner and creative collaborative leader of Asphalt Designs and partner in Phobos and Deimos. Currently he is awakening and stimulating the sensibilities of teenagers as a high-school art instructor.
Autumn Adamme established Dark Garden in 1989. Her vision and leadership have brought her company to the forefront of the world’s corset market. Using the finest fabrics, Autumn and her team of talented craftspeople skillfully build each corset and couture garment from start to finish. Her gowns and corsets have been worn on Hollywood’s red carpets by Christina Aguilera, Pamela Anderson, Kelly Osbourne and Dita Von Teese. Autumn has participated in two great Crucible events – Firebird Fire Ballet and Machine, last year’s fire opera.
Stefanie Ku (a.k.a. Cosmic Cupcake, Kukie Matter, and silverslik), is a San Francisco based intermedia artist and divides her time between helping people achieve wellness through sound and vibrational healing, playing keyboard and synth in electronic rock band Beautiful Machines, and transmuting her visions from the dimensionless realm of pure thought into the more accessible language of light and sound.
Chris Jeffries (Tinaja Labs) is part of an ongoing DIY movement which builds upon the open software and now open hardware standards. This movement makes the use of