story by AMBER CHEN
photography by JOHN PARK
The Audrey Fashion Show 2015 took place at 440 Seaton in downtown Los Angeles on March 28, and it was a grand celebration honoring Asian Americans in fashion, beauty, and entertainment. Satine Boutique owner Jeannie Lee was the chosen curator for the show, handpicking designers from all over the world to showcase their summer collections. And because Audrey Magazine had invited some of the most fashion-forward celebrities in the Asian community—from Hana Mae Lee, to Lindsay Price, to Eugenie Grey—the entire venue had become a runway, even before the show officially started.
Hana Mae Lee of Pitch Perfect
Jeannie Mai, co-host of The Real
The Filharmonic
Kicking off the show was Korean American indie folk-rock band Run River North. After releasing their self-titled album last year, the group has been touring all over America and parts of Europe, but they still made time to blow us away at the Audrey Fashion Show. Their passionate performance held the audience’s attention until the very end, as they played signature tracks like “Monsters Calling North” as well as testing out newer songs for the crowd.
Run River North
Following their set, the night’s host Jeannie Mai, from FOX’s talk show The Real, took the stage to welcome the audience and introduce the designers. She told stories about what it meant to her when she first saw Audrey Magazine at a bookstore 12 years ago, when the premier Asian American women’s lifestyle magazine first launched, and she even had time to crack a few jokes, asking the audience where she could find a good bowl of pho in LA and doing a spot-on impression of her Vietnamese mother telling her to drive safely back when she got her first car — which was, incidentally, a Toyota, the title sponsor of the night. Other sponsors included PIA, the Korea Daily, WacowLA, MYX TV, Johnnie Walker, Asahi, Qupid, South Coast Plaza and Make-Up Artist Network.
Jeannie Mai hosting the Audrey Fashion Show 2015
With everyone’s spirits enlivened, the show began, starting with New York City based designer Rachel Antonoff and L.A.-based designer Heidi Merrick. Focused mainly on flowing casual wear, models were dressed in a variety of vacation-worthy styles, complete with straw hats and matching platform wedges.
Next came L.A. based contemporary brand AND B paired with Sachin & Babi, named after its husband and wife founders, who stormed the runway with its more modern take on the upcoming season. Models wore contemporary pieces in mainly neutral colors, but still managed to engage onlookers with the addition of bold accessories.
As a pleasant surprise for the females in the audience, French brand Elevenparis, was the first of the designers to have male models, earning copious applause from the women throughout the venue. With a more street style bent, models sported jersey-esque sets printed with tropical florals and even headshots of model Kate Moss.
Taking a short break from the fashion, world renowned dancer/choreographer Mike Song and beatboxer Terry Im, better known by his stage name KRNFX, paired up to give a more than memorable performance. Perfectly synchronizing his moves with KRNFX’s beats, Mike Song moved with ease, portraying comical scenarios such as killing a fly, dancing in a club, and a ping pong game between friends. After beatboxing along with Song, KRNFX took center stage to perform a mind-blowing solo, his power never faltering, earning the respect of all the guests.
The show continued with JACHS New York paired with designer April Mun’s Stella & Jamie. The rock-chic brand strayed from its usually women’s only collection and expanded into menswear. L.A. based brand Cult Gaia and L.A. based designer Sechung showcased a line of cheerful spring styles, while Becca by Rebecca Virtue paired with Lezard Swim to fully embody the upcoming summer season with beachwear.
Ending the performances of the night was the six member group The Filharmonic, an L.A.-based boy band who first gained fame in the NBC reality show The Sing-Off and who will appear in the upcoming highly-anticipated movie Pitch Perfect 2. While on stage, they sang a myriad of songs including Michael Jackson’s “Rock With You,” the popular “Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars, and “All of Me” by John Legend. All a capella, their rich vocals effortlessly filled the venue.
For the last time, Jeannie Mai took the stage with runway show curator Jeannie Lee to thank James Campbell of James Campbell Productions and to bid the audience farewell, encouraging them to continue the festivities, ending the show on high note.
___
Originally published on Audrey Magazine
