'TRANSITOPIA' hottest ticket in town for fashion fans

Tickets are on sale for the Honolulu Community College student fashion show, "TRANSITOPIA," are on sale now, and I'm told there will be some very special guests on hand, so "Project Runway" fans just might want to pick up their tickets early.

The event will take place at 7 p.m. April 23 at the HCC Automotive Department at 445 Kokea St. Tickets are $25 per person and will include heavy pupu. Students will be donating a portion of the ticket sales to the Japan Relief fund.
    
Graduating seniors will open the show with mini shows to showcase their individual collections. Each mini show will have its own set and theme with students competing for awards for design in both set and fashion.

Call the HCC Fashion Technology department at 845-9203 for tickets.

Andy South Day at HCC

Nadine Kam photos
Andy South answered all questions about his experiences in designing on and off "Project Runway."

Make no mistake, Andy South was a star pupil in Honolulu Community College's Fashion Technology program from his first year there.

Even at that early stage, I remember his teachers could not rave enough about his work ethic, prolific output, his willingness to help other students and pitch in whereever needed, and grace in
massaging egos of his fellow student designers.

Talk of his one day appearing on "Project Runway" started early and having survived the show, so far, on he received a hero's homecoming celebration at the school on Oct. 11, which they dubbed Andy South Day.

He was welcomed by students, faculty and fans from the community and talked about his humble roots growing up in Waianae, and the dedication it took to get where he is today.

If there was any doubt about the kind of passion it takes to realize one's dreams, he revealed that at one point he got rid of his bed to make room for a cutting table, thinking that it would double as a bed, no matter how uncomfortable. And, his first studio was in a tent in his back yard. The gist is, you can work anywhere, in any circumstance, if you are doing what you love.

Students don't always get that. They wondered about the money, asking him how much they could expect to make as a designer and how much he's made from the show, which to date is nothing.

He said the safe path is to work for someone else, but it's not the route he wants to take. As a solo designer, he said he doesn't expect to make money for another decade, and that is the plight of every designer —
trying to survive and make it work until breaking through.

But his energy and enthusiasm are unflagging and he says he's hustling now to strike while he has a certain amount of celebrity. I certainly look forward to seeing his next projects and collections!


Among those who showed up was prospective Fashion Technology Program student Kini Hanson and her mom Sharon.


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Andy signed autographs and greeted  fans before cutting into his cake.

Andy South on the runway

Getty Images
Andy South’s “Project Runway” finale collection Sept. 9 was admired by critics, although the New York Daily News questioned the headgear, calling his puzzling choice “a head-scratcher.”

Sorry, I have to be at the Italian Film Festival tonight, so not sure if I’ll be able to blog my weekly “Project Runway” recap tonight, so I leave you with this guest piece from one of Andy South’s Honolulu Community College instructors, Joy Nagaue, who I arranged to go in my place to view the “Project Runway” finale show Sept. 9.

What’s funny is that when I talked to her recently, she said she still insists on calling him by his full formal name, and always refers to him as Andrew. I’m kind of thinking along those lines as well. The deal with South is that it’s easy to pronounce, but as a point of identity and from a media perspective, there would be more interest in a person who’s a little more exotic than the next guy.

By Joy Nagaue

Visiting New York’s Fashion Week 2010 and being invited to “Project Runway’s” Finale Show at Lincoln Center was absolutely incredible.

Naturally, traveling from Hawaii, we were laden with lei for our student finalist, Andrew Southiphong, and “omiyage” of macadamia nuts and chocolates. However, “Project Runway’s” tight security throughout and after the show barred us from the backstage area and (teacher) Lillian Zane and I were unable to pass the goodies out to anyone.

We did enjoy the “Project Runway” show and were star struck by seeing judges Heidi Klum, Michael Kors, Nina Garcia, and special guest Jessica Simpson seated across the runway from us. We were also able to see last
season’s Project Runway’s contestants and talk to Jay Sario, Honolulu Community College’s first contestant from last season.

Although this was the show’s finale, we were unable to deduce the three finalist from the other seven decoy designers. All 10 contestants showed a spring line of 10 garments. All of the contestants seemed visibly
nervous and emotional while introducing their line to approximately 1,000 guests and press people snapping the contestants’ every angle and recording every audible word.

The stage was simply the “Project Runway’s” backdrop you see on all the shows. There wasn’t any fluff, not even music between each contestant. There was a lot of silence between contestants and many contestants
took a very long time to appear, sometimes as long as 5 minutes. I could only assume that they or their models were not ready and queued up.

Being there in person was so different from watching it on TV. It is much more exciting and the applause was extra loud for favorite contestants. Everyone around us got excited to hear that we were Andrew’s teachers from Hawaii.

Gretchen’s line was earthy and almost American Indian inspired.  She used a lot of browns and neutrals. I felt that way seeing it … neutral.

Ivy used a lot of simple white outfits with yellow accents. She said that she was inspired by the Hawaii. It looked nice, but perhaps too simple for a contest based on creativity.

I liked the bright colors of Valerie’s collection, and Mondo’s was another outstanding line, definitely fresh and young. I especially liked his black-and-white plaid strapless dress with a bubble skirt. He accessorized his
garments well with hats.

Andy was last in the line-up. He appeared with his Mohawk haircut that went almost to his back waistline. He got very emotional while introducing his line with his mother, two sisters and brother sitting in the front row.  Andy spoke well and confidently, leading me to believe that he did well in the show.

His line was made mostly of gray silk with apple green accents. It was quite beautiful and well sewn. Some of the silk came from Laos and the rest was ordered from Kaimuki Dry Goods. His collection featured exciting cropped pants with side seam tucks and one shoulder tops.

The rest of the designers were a blur. Most of their spring lines were neutral colored and forgettable.

Andy on the runway during the finale of his show.

The first showing was private at 6 a.m., during which the judges whittled the final four down to just three. We attended the 9:30 a.m. show and its decoys, including Casanova and Michael D., the two
contestants who were cast “out” in the past two weeks.

Andrew called me that evening, when he finally got his cell phone back. The final results were revealed to him at 3 in the afternoon. Did he win? He couldn’t say, but I could feel his relief and his happiness to be out of the pressure cooker situation.

Throughout the season, Andrew did a great job of representing Honolulu Community College and the State of Hawaii. He remained humble throughout the show. I am so proud of him and of his work. I am confident that he did really well. Did he win? I hope he did … he really worked hard all of his young life and as a student.

We were finally able to see him early the next morning at his hotel as he got ready for an interview. That evening, he made an appearance at Piperlime” (accessories), but the line was so long we could not get into the store … unbelievable.

Andrew planned to stay on the mainland with his family for a few days, including traveling to Washington D.C., to be honored by the Laotian Embassy, since his mother is from there. He promises to return to HCC to talkto the semester’s new and returning students. Our classes are filled to capacity. More work for us,
but we love it.