Wearable art and functional clothes will hit the catwalk in Saturday’s detour: a fashion show.

The production will highlight original fashions created by 11 area designers set to the backdrop of sampled music.

Organized and produced by re:form (who identify themselves as three Kansas University students: Ashlee Hall, Amanda Luginbill and Sarah Beth Stiefel), the event will give local designers an avenue to hone their creative skills and gather motivation from fellow designers.

Sarah Stiefel says the three were inspired to produce their own event after seeing a fashion show in Kansas City that presents local designers every year.

“We knew there were a lot of talented designers in Lawrence, but there wasn’t a platform for them to show their designs,” she said.

The designers were selected by re:form to translate their ideas and experiences into all-original pieces ranging from accessories and lingerie to clothing and wearable art.

Plans began last December. Stiefel says the group first asked a couple designers they knew beforehand to join. Then they placed posters around Lawrence to announce the opportunity for other designers in the area

“The 11 designers chosen were given complete freedom to create works, both functional or couture. They only had to follow the theme that it is a spring/summer 2003 program,” Stiefel says.

The clothing will vary from functional pieces to wearable art designed from experimental materials.

“We let the designers decide what they want to present and what kind of attitude they want to exude,” she says.

Hadley Johnson, designer for a clothing store in Kansas City and a 2001 KU graduate, will showcase her designs in the show to expand her audience.

KU student ashlee hall models an outfit that Kansas City, Mo., resident and 2001 KU graduate Hadley Johnson designed and created by sewing together vintage slips. Hadley has designed all-new pieces for detour: a fashion show, which is set for 8 p.m. Saturday at Raoul's Velvet Room, 815 N.H.

“Most of us already have a style and theme, but we expanded for the show,” she says. “I’ve always used sewing in installation art, so this is an extension of the work I already do. It will keep me busy and working to create a new line for the season.”

To complement each designer’s style, DJ seenboostersoundsystem (Josh Powers) has worked with each individual to customize the music for the various presentations. He has adapted the music specifically to complement the varied attitudes.

Johnson says the added personalized element by a DJ “creates a whole atmosphere.”

“We give him ideas of the sound we are going for and combine it with the clothes.”

Stiefel believes this may be the first time anyone has tailored music to a show like this in Lawrence. “It’s quite a production,” she says.

Johnson agrees: “I think in the way of original designs from local designers, it’s a first for Lawrence.”

— Monica White is a Kansas University journalism student.