Ruth, I very much enjoyed reading your recent article titled, "Rock and Rags Are Co-Stars." However, I wanted to make a clarification to your statement that, "the Hamptons festival may well be the first planned from its inception as a platform for fashion marketing."
I believe you should check out an event I co-founded and produced with South by Southwest Festival in Austin called Style X (pronounced "style by") that took place this past March, during the festival's 25th year anniversary. We had sponsors like American Apparel and Keds, along with three dozen up-and-coming designers (each paying roughly $1,400 for a 10'x10' space) like New York eyewear brand Tortoise and Blonde and Austin women's line Toxo-philite (started by a SCAD graduate and former Marc Jacobs intern). Each of these designers had pop-up stores and the runway shows we held featured official showcasing SXSW musicians as our models.
The event even entailed panels to discuss the intersection between music, fashion and technology featuring speakers like Project Runway Season 2 winner Chloe Dao and fashion blogger and stylist Kelly Framel (known as The Glamourai).
In a previous issue of the Times, Michael Hoinski wrote, "Style X, a new component of the festival that will showcase emerging talent in the fashion industry, will harness all of that into a free two-day exhibition. There will be runway shows with musicians as models; panel discussions about the convergence of style, music and technology; and a pop-up retail store downtown..."
Fashionista wrote, "Style setters were out in full-force at South by Southwest this week, as the festival premiered its newest fashion-focused endeavor, Style X (pronounced, “Style By”). With tons of designer showcases and a runway show chock-full of SXSW musicians-turned-models, Style X is certainly living up to its reputation as the first event bridging the gap between fashion and music, with a sharp focus on emerging talent."
I believe Style X is the originator of this type of music-fashion pop-up marketing event and others, like this Hamptons event, are fast followers. Check out the video on our home page for further evidence: www.stylexaustin.com
Best,
Joah Spearman
Co-Founder & Executive Producer, Style X
@StyleXAustin
P.S. We had 15,000+ attendees in two days.
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