Fashion Tribe: A second look at Portland Fashion Week

Ed Kavishe/FashionWirePress.com for Portland Fashion Week photos
One of the designs from Seth Aaron Henderson's SolarWorld Collection, presented at Portland Fashion Week last month.

In all the excitement leading up to the conclusion of the most recent "Project Runway," past PR'ers have also been hard at work. Season 7's Jay Sario, Seth Aaron Henderson and Jonathan Joseph Peters, for three, showed at Portland (Oregon) Fashion Week Oct. 9.

Don't be hating on Gretchen Jones. What's done is done, so just wish her well and keep your eyes open for what's next for all the designers. More importantly, in just eight seasons, "Project Runway" has already had two winners from Portland. Season 5 winner Leanne Marshall is now living and creating in Brooklyn, and still selling pieces—made with organic cotton, silk, hemp, bamboo—on her Leanimal Etsy site, for $258 to $1,695.

Leanimal.com
Some of Leanne Marshall's designs from Fall 2009.

It's incredible but doesn't surprised me. There's a youthful, creative vibe in the air in Portland that I've loved since my first trip there about 12 years ago. Rents were cheap so there were many vintage shops, boutiques and co-ops run by kids, and on my first trip I discovered a wonderful boutique Seaplane—since closed :(—that featured dozens of local designers. At that time, I stocked up on fabulous one-of-a-kind designer originals that were only selling for $25 to $65.

I returned almost every other year since then, and over that time, the rest of design scene grew up. Seaplane moved to a ritzy Northwest address and all of a sudden I was looking at designer pieces $260 and above. Good for the designers, but not as easy to scoop up.

As much as I love the polish of New York, I equally love Portland's indie spirit, and I find I need both cities to feel excited and inspired by American fashion. Designers in Portland aren't subject to as many critical eyes as New York designers, so they aren't afraid to experiment and step out of the confines of what is acceptable. Whereas hot weather in Hawaii tends to dictate a sameness with sundresses and T-shirts, Pacific Northwesters have so many more options to layer jackets and coats, so designers are also versed in making more formal, structured pieces.

I've wanted to go to Portland Fashion Week for a couple of years now, but haven't been able to make the time.

Whenever I mention PFW, people go, "Huh? Portland has a fashion week?"

Well, yeah. It's a progressive, eco-conscious city, so their events have largely been about sustainability. This year, Henderson's SolarWorld Collection was inspired by solar power-inspired materials. Here's a look at some of the pieces shown throughout PFW.

Ed Kavishe/FashionWirePress.com for Portland Fashion Week photos
Two more designs from Seth Aaron Henderson's SolarWorld Collection, presented at Portland Fashion Week.