On Thursday night, the elegant Elks Tower in downtown Sacramento was the setting for WEAVE's inaugural Jeans for Justice fashion show, which wowed a packed crowd of more than 300, who enjoyed great food, drink - and multiple runway events.
The first show featured models showing off great spring/summer fashions from local boutiques, including Blush Boutique, Sugar Shack, Felicia Strati, Olipom, DV8 Boutique and Krazy Mary's Boutique.
Another show - and my personal fave - featured "Community Couture Models," and, man oh man, did they strut their stuff! There was Judge Morrison England, a member of the U.S. District Court, who walked the walk minus his robe. We saw State Assemblywoman Nicole Parra and Dennis Mangers of the California Cable & Telecommunications Association.
And, with her major theatrical expertise put to the runway, Anne-Marie Petrie - wife of Geoff - was a major hit.
I had the honor of being one of the four judges for the Student Designer's Scholarship portion of the show. Fashion design students from throughout the region submitted sketches and an essay to take part, and finalists were chosen based on their fashionable integration of denim.
The finalists were Elise Richleri and Dana Smith, both design students at UC Davis.
The winner, after the student runway show?
Elise, whose "Shock and Question" collection (sketches pictured) connected the history of denim to breaking the cycle of abuse against women. For her efforts, she received a $5,000 scholarship from Wells Fargo.
(Both designers were terrific, and, in my humble opinion, created collections that could have walked off the runway and out on to J Street.)
I caught up with WEAVE spokesperson Angela D'Arcy today, and she gave me the good news that, with proceeds from tickets, a live auction (hosted by actor Jason Hervey - "The Wonder Years"), a raffle and corporate sponsorships, WEAVE raised more than $80,000.
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