Lexus Charleston Fashion Week Announces Bibhu Mohapatra and Rachel Roy as Featured Designers

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Charleston Fashion Week with Fern Mallis

 Lexus Charleston Fashion Week®, one of the leading fashion weeks in the United States, announced its March 14-18, 2017 schedule, and features internationally known designers Rachel Roy and Bibhu Mohapatra, runway shows from 16 competing Emerging Designer semifinalists, and exciting retailer and local designer shows.  

Bibhu Mohapatra, a New York-based fashion designer, will be featured on Friday March 17, 2017. His creations have been spotlighted in many fashion magazines including VOGUE, Marie Claire, ELLE, New York Magazine, and Harper's Bazaar. Mohapatra has presented many collections of luxury women's ready-to-wear, couture and fur under his name in New York, Mumbai, Zurich, Beijing, and New Delhi. His collections are sold at Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus, SAKS, and Nordstrom, Lane Crawford in China, and other boutiques around the world.

On Saturday March 18, 2017, Rachel Roy will be the Featured Designer to close Charleston Fashion Week® 2017. Roy is the founder of her eponymous brand and a tireless activist for using your voice to encourage change and design the life you want to live. In addition to running her successful brand, Roy is a sought after speaker on entrepreneurship and philanthropy and has shared her story and experiences at forums ranging from the White House to the Fortune Most Powerful Women conference series to other various women’s empowerment summits. Roy nurtures young design talent globally through her work with the Woolmark Prize, Who’s Next/VOGUE Mexico and CFDA incubator programs. Roy has been recognized by the Accessories Council with an ACE AWARD for best brand launch as well as Mattel’s 10 Women to Watch and numerous best dressed honors including Vanity Fair’s Best Dressed List.

Mohapatra and Roy will also serve on the Fashion Panel under Fern Mallis, who will again lead the effort in determining the 2017 Charleston Fashion Week® Emerging Designer Competition Winner.

Naomi Russell, executive director of Charleston Fashion Week®, says “We are very excited and honored to have such great designers like Rachel Roy and Bibhu Mohapatra during CFW 2017. This continues CFW’s goal of bringing nationally known fashion stars to Charleston, to judge and mentor the competing emerging designers, as well as highlight the strong fashion scene here. Charleston Fashion Week® 2017 promises to be bigger and better than ever, and we look forward to seeing everyone under the tents next month!”

Charleston Fashion Week® will take place from March 14-18, 2017 under the tents in downtown Charleston, S.C., and showcases collections of emerging designers, nationally renowned designer runway shows, glamorous on-site tents such as the Belk Tent, shopping in the hip Style Lounge, happening after-parties and much more. The Friday and Saturday night runway shows will also be live-streamed on the CFW web-site and mobile app. Tickets for Lexus Charleston Fashion Week are on sale now and can be purchased by visiting www.charlestonfashionweek.com. 

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Ready-to-Wear Roses on Project Runway

[caption id="attachment_20160" align="aligncenter" width="440" caption="Michelle in the Project Runway workroom."]

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Fashion came back to

Project Runway

last week! Thank goodness. As much as we loved the nakedness of the Thunder from Down Under beefcake, we missed good clothing and good design. While they're still working in teams, the designers are being allowed to "express" themselves at the same time. It was the "ready-to-wear" challenge with

Lord & Taylor

as the client.

The theme:

To design a RTW look, to be sold in stores and online, inspired by the iconic L&T rose. Who came up smelling like roses and who got pricked by the thorns? 

Pretty. Patricia has proven to be a real player here. She's a little different, sometimes a little "off" yet she always manages to bring it home. This is a very nice look. Kudos to Patricia for not allowing her teammate's bitchiness and rudeness to affect her. Check yourself Stanley!

Maybe if Stanley hadn't spent so much time being an asshole to Patricia, he could have focused on making an interesting dress.

Speaking of bitches... Richard, WTF!?? You're a grown man, stop acting like a little girl. He designed this jersey maxi and okay, I like it. A lot. So did Heidi. The problem lies in the fact that he's done this before. Show us something new please.

Layana's dress was naughty and nice. I loved the use of leather and the print on the skirt didn't bother me. However, the same print on the bodice was just way too much. I would have kept the top in a solid.

This dress would give me a stomach ache except it makes me think of Pepto Bismol and then I feel better. You know its BAD when the best thing a judge could say is "nice shoulders." I'm actually surprised that

Zac Posen

nor

Rachel Roy

grilled Daniel on the sloppy construction around the slit and the hem! I'm ready for Daniel to go home. I want to enjoy the dramatic meltdown he'll probably have on the runway.

Poor choices... Samantha, who I was NOT ready to see go home, failed us (and herself) with this ruffled, layered tragedy. Her sketch was hot this dress was not! What happened? Maybe she didn't have enough time to stand back and edit?? There is too much going on with this look and not only does it come across as junior, but also cheap.

If

Tim Gunn

were straight, Michelle would need to put out because he gave her the win with his workroom wisdom. Tim talked her out of making a gloomy, hideous gray vest to go over the pretty chartreuse shift dress. This outfit is such a winner! I've heard it's already sold out at Lord & Taylor.

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Golden Girls meet Project Runway

The most golden girl of all,

Joan Rivers

, was one of the special guest judges last week on

Project Runway

. And honey, as expected, the the Queen of FP delivered her smart, sassy, trash-talking wisdom! Love me some Joan Rivers!! Joining her in the judges circle were

Melissa

, her daughter and designer

Rachel Roy.

I get stressed out when Project Runway uses "real" people for models. So with that said, a couple glasses of wine helped me get through the episode. The designers were paired up with ladies in their golden years and were challenged to create a look that reflected the client's taste and likes while still maintaining the designers aesthetic. The winning designer deserved the win but as for the loser, it was a bit of a shocker to me! 

Even though Daniel redeemed himself from the previous disastrous challenge with this black pant suit, which made Nina Garcia happy, I must side with my girl Joan Rivers. Where's the "wow" factor Daniel?? Why isn't she wearing a bracelet or necklace?

I love Kate's design. The judges didn't. Her client / model is so happy and satisfied. The top and skirt work great together and will work well separately.

I'm not a fan of Layana's look. I don't understand the piping effect on the waist band, the overall fit is funky and I HATE the length. It's too short for a woman her age.

No linguini bibs from Michelle this week. She gave us a winner. Not a winning design, but definitely a judge's favorite. The blingy waistband is weird to me, but the overall design is flattering and her model was certainly the showiest on the runway. Not a fan of that either. Just model, please.

This poor lady, wrapped like a sausage. Patricia screwed up. She doesn't listen. Her underlying arrogance led her to this low-scoring mess and kept her team (Michelle & Layana) from being in the top.

Tu created a one-size-fits-all dress. Not a good thing because it was supposed to fit just the model. He tried to justify it with his inexperience of designing for true sizes. That's bullshit. Has he never watched a season of Project Runway? YOU know there is always a similar challenge. No excuses Tu.  [With Kate's help] he belted the dress at the waist in a desperate attempt to provide shape. The judges saw right through it and didn't hold back. "You don't have a fucking clue in Hell who you're designing for," yelled Joan!

Samantha gave us a golden leopard! I mostly liked it. The big black bow wasn't necessary. I would have done just a black waistband. Nina and Heidi did not care for this look at all, but Joan dearest put them in their place... after all, she is THE Fashion Police!

Stanley's look was a winner from the first step onto the runway. Other than fit issues with the front of the pant, which can be overlooked given the ridiculous time frame they have to complete these challenges, this was a sophisticated and beautiful ensemble. The only worry I have for Stanley moving forward is his issues with time management. He totally stresses me out in the workroom! Speed up Stan!

Another terrific Project Runway look came from Stanley's team partner, Richard. This dress is amazing all the way around. From it's design, to the colors, to the versatility in fit and age appropriateness.

Amanda gave us a warm tranny mess. [No disrespect to the model] But Amanda put a somewhat manly woman in a super girly dress that fit horribly. She screwed up from the start by getting a flowy fabric to create a structured dress. Amanda didn't recover from that mistake and though she was in the bottom two, miraculously, she was safe!

Yes, the dress looks like it's cutting off circulation. Yes, it's kind of wedding or bar mitzvah attire. NO it was not the worst look on the runway. I was a shocked to see Benjamin go home. Anyone else feel the same way? The dress had it's problems: too tight, the center pleat is not right, the bottom band is not needed and the skirt is lopsided. But was it worse than Amanda's?

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