When it comes to fashion what’s in is new and what’s new is in. For local designer JoAnn Berman this isn’t the case. The New York/London based designer debuted her fall 2010 “Thunderbirds” collection from her self-titled fashion line at “Eco-Fashion Week” and as expected brought no disappointment.
The show was held at the Village Green in Greenwich village is a subsequent of a series of shows titled “The Greenshows”, which focus on collections from uber talented designer who choose to use environmental friendly garments and fabrics in their fashions. The invite only soiree was jam-packed inside, but most attendees didn’t seem to mind the overcrowdedness especially since the show started promptly at 5:00, just as scheduled.
Berman’s new line is full of eye-popping color and jaw-dropping ensembles. Each different from the next. “JoAnn Berman is terrific” says Diana George. “I love that all the pieces looked well constructed. Its hard to believe that those materials were used before.” she adds. Berman’s collection indeed is eco-friendly. 99 percent of the materials she uses for her shows are either second hand, organic or donated garments and she doesn’t use any animals in her clothing.
Jasmine Chambers, a fashion student at F.I.T. was equally impressed with Berman’s line, but more for the designs itself. “I was in total ahhh. There were so many pieces to die for.” She says. “This line is outrageous but in a good way. She stayed cohesive but jumped outside the box when she hit the design table.” She continued. The bold yellows, pinks and blue made it seem as if we were in suburban high school auditorium circa 1986. Girls wore fluffy skirts with boots while guys rocked football jerseys and suspender shorts.
A favorite amongst the audience was by far a yellow and brown feathered cardigan that overlapped a lime green t-shirt with a man that resembled Bob Marley. The model role played as a bird literally flying down the runway received a standing ovation from the crowd. “She was excellent. The garment was excellent. This show is excellent.” says Monique Williams another fashion student at F.I.T.
Berman has no initial inspiration in her designs or why she chooses to use the fabrics she uses. “I have been doing DIY since 1977 when I couldn’t afford materials...the word ‘green’ and ‘ecology’ were not even in the vocabulary at the time.” She stated as she delivered a quite speech during the end of her runway show. It was a defining moment in her speech since it was most notably the most important and possibly the only sentence where her voice was actually heard. The DJ spinned a bunch of 70s and 80s disco tunes; and between the music, the applause from the audience and the eyes on the models and Berman herself dancing on the catwalk, the show seemed like a social gathering of pals creating their own runway show. It was this that made JoAnn Berman’s Fall 2010 “Thunderbirds” show like no other.
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