By the fourth night, the alternate reality of Portland Fashion Week was quite familiar—driving out to the shipyards felt like heading to another planet, where makeup and hairspray and heels are de rigeur (usually so alien in Portland), and time has flash-forwarded to Spring 2010. I was lulled into wearing a tank top and lightweight trench on the coldest night thus far, which left me shivering outside, but was perfectly suited to watching bathing suits parade down the runway—35 in all.
Saturday’s show was a celebration of Jantzen’s 100th Anniversary, with the old-school Portland apparel company sharing next season’s “Curvallure” swimsuit collection as well premiering five new “Heritage” looks based on iconic designs of past decades. In fact, you could say that Saturday was all about uniting fashion with the oh-so-PDX active lifestyle, since there was also the Oregon Manifest & Momentum Magazine-sponsored “Ready to Roll” bicycle style matinee. (We were unable to make it, but thankfully Jonathan Maus has a great wrap-up and photos on Bike Portland). There had been temporary bike racks set up in front of Building 10 and models coasting down the runway just that afternoon, but by the time the sun set the frenzied glitz was back with the swirling lights and thumping dance music.
It was mercifully less crowded than the overflowing Friday night, however, leaving more room to admire all the statement necklaces in attendance—layered chains, large beads, bejeweled bibs. Otherwise, it was a sea of the same fall trends: textured tights, boots and booties, scarves, baby doll dresses layered with cardigans. The audience definitely skewed a bit older, which offered a nice diversity of styles as well as a slightly calmer vibe than the night before.
I have to admit, I wasn’t very excited for Jantzen—it’s a brand I associate with granny-appropriate one-pieces. But waiting for the show to start, I was drawn to the vintage Jantzen ads that were on display, showing retro suits perfect for the current Mad Men-induced mid-century craze, and was in turn treated to a little history lesson from the director of Jantzen’s archives, Carol Alhadeff. Turns out Jantzen was born in January 1910 as the Portland Knitting Company. Three years later, the founders were asked by their rowing club to create a wool suit for the cold morning practices, and the one-piece tank-and-shorts pieces became the prototype for the first bathing suit (I know, wool in water sounds crazy, but it was apparently very light and silky). The company was renamed “Jantzen,” after one of the founders, in 1916, when mass production of their bathing suits took off. During the next decade, they spearheaded the movement from “bathing” to “swimming,” promoting the latter as a sport, as well as created a stir for their body-revealing suits in national ad campaigns. Jantzen was bought by Vanity Fair in 1986, then Perry Ellis in 2002, though they still design and produce suits in the same Portland building off Sandy Blvd. Considering the fashion-forward early history of the company, it seems to me that the brand has been diluted over the past several decades (hence my original disinterest), but seeing the photos of the Heritage looks got me hoping for an innovative lineup that might shake up the swimwear industry all over again.
But first, we had a sampling of three out-of-town designers showing their ready-to-wear lines from near and far (though none of them seem to be available in Portland). The night began with Vancouver, B.C.-based Jason Matlo, whose sleek dresses and gowns have made it onto both U.S. and Canadian red carpets. A video projecting words like “audacious” and “modern” was distracting and unnecessary since his clothes spoke for themselves (I kept hearing Project Runway’s Christian Siriano hissing “fierce”). The sharp collection was short and tight, full of zebra prints, black sequins, Ace bandage wrap dresses, and disco ball sparkles—it could have screamed “tart,” but instead leaned toward sexy sophisticate thanks to ladylike cuts and quality finishing. The jackets in particular offered a nice counterpoint: a zebra stripe blazer mixed a petite cut with just-strong-enough shoulders, while a black handkerchief wrap was free-flowing and structured at the same time with cuffed sleeves.
Mohammad Mehdi next transported the audience to Southeast Asia, with Bollywood beats and light dresses featuring intricate embroidery and beadwork. We were certainly not in Portland anymore. The floaty pastel fabrics were balanced with the substantial patterned bibs along the neckline—jewelry in and of themselves. Later outfits featured more exotic bikini tops, palazzo pants, and sari wraps, until the audience oooh-ed over the finale, which blended several bridal traditions into one very unique wedding dress. It was a beautiful collection that displayed Mehdi’s craftsmanship, but I couldn’t help wondering how it fit into Portland Fashion Week—is the event about exposing Portlanders to new designers from around the world, or is it about showcasing the Portland talent to the rest of the world? Trying to do both, often in the same night, is awfully confusing.
Finally, Lizzie Parker brought her “Eco-Bespoke” holiday collection down from Washington; her line is made almost entirely by hand out of organic bamboo jersey, and to be sure, she does some interesting things with the fabric (tie-dye, artful wear-and-tear), but I have to admit I had flashes of “Derelicte” (from Zoolander) running through my head—albeit glammed up for the holidays. Torn leggings, a sooty palette, beaded “fuzzies” (as my friend called them) all contributed to my meet-me-in-the-alley-at-midnight first impression. But these pieces have been growing on me—the oversized fringed tunic dress looked like a flapper survived the apocalypse, and the slouchy metallic number took Flashdance back to the steel yards. Nostalgia with an edge. I also appreciated the heather gray-meets-black satin ensembles, where the heftier fabric was used for blouse-like drapes. But because the collection was so disjointed, a lot didn’t work for me: poor fits, over-embellished, unflattering—and who said the bubble skirt should ever come back into style? A long-sleeved tie-dye maxi dress looked like a sea of unwieldy fabric hanging off the model, and the hippie-meets-Dickens finale featured an oversize satin bow capelet, tie-dye tiers, rhinestone trim, and a dangly chain belt—too much at once! Holidays are for drama, but I’ll pass on the gypsy caroler get-up.
Then the lights went down and we heard the “Just wear a smile and a Jantzen” jingle, taking us back, followed by The Andrews Sisters and The Supremes. And the parade of swimsuits began, with several tunics, skirts, and maxi dress cover-ups to shake things up. Overall, the ruched figure-eight bandeau top was striking every time in came down the runway in various incarnations—one-piece strapless, halter, bikini, mini skirt bottom, hipster leg line, full dress—and it was interesting to see it flatter so many different body types. On other suits, flat mini pleats that framed the neckline or skirt bottom added a bit of detail without being too frilly. Unfortunately, the patterns were overwhelmingly boring—oversize, abstract florals, swirls, blocks of color in shades of blue, teal, purple (I think my mom had a suit like these when I was six)—and often used in the most typical cuts and styles. A little bit of Target on the runway. But a few worked—the intricate, Moroccan style print made for a nice tunic with beaded trim, and the black-and-white graphics felt very Jonathan Adler, modern resort chic. Of course, they saved the best for last and paraded out the Heritage looks in chronological order: the Diving Girl Maillot, a red boucle number modeled after the original wool diving girl suit, with matching ruffled cape/wrap skirt (1920s); the Ruffled French Curve, recalling the first bikinis, with swooping ruffle and great criss-cross bottom detail (1940s); the Gun Metal Astronomique, a metallic halter that recreates the glamour of the famed “figuremaker” suit (1950s); the Black Monokini, which is a less structured version of the cut-away, velvet “Velourina” suit (1970s); and the Mod Hoodie, a high-legged one-piece with an oversized hood that looks surprisingly sleek both up or down (1980s)—the perfect look for Madonna’s “Vogue” wrapping things up. These styles were by far the most interesting, while still being utterly flattering and wearable, each of them drawing on the original’s strengths without looking dated or derivative. I would have liked to see even more. Signature Jantzen suits are available locally at Popina Swim and Macy’s.
The night was a bit anti-climactic—even the best swimsuits start to blur together after so long, and without any local indie favorites to root for, I appreciated but didn’t fall hard for anything else coming down the runway. All I could think about was the next day, dubbed “Sustainable Sunday,” and to me, the signature night of PFW. Would it live up to my—and the city’s—expectations?
Related Links
Portland Fashion Week: Day 1
Portland Fashion Week: Day 2
Portland Fashion Week: Day 3
View the slideshow for more images of Portland Fashion Week or visit our Flickr gallery:
Photos © 2009 Kenneth Aaron Neighborhood Notes
