What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/1376221
MAY 23-29, 2021 WHAT'S UP! 9 Runway Little Rock designer Bruce Davis is the founder of 22nd Element Clothing and Accessories. When he accepted the offer to be the first EMERGE designer-in- residence, he was tasked with creating 10 looks for the runway event. Davis enthusiastically turned out double that for his largest collection to date, titled "GLASS!" The collection is inspired by a Marsha Ambrosius song of the same name that focuses on a battle with self. His work will be highlighted during the May 29 event. "When you look in the mirror the first time, you may think you know who you really are. When you take a look the second time, after you break down your flaws, do you still consider yourself worthy of the shell you temporarily possess?" Davis says of his influence. "My goal is to help people understand that just because we may be broken in some aspects, you don't have to stay that way. At times, glass is the most beautiful when being reassembled." On describing his experience with EMERGE as challenging, but rewarding: When introduced with the opportunity to be the first designer-in-residence, I had the mindset that I needed to prove to the other fellow designers I was fit for the task at hand. In actuality, I had to prove it to myself. Everyone associated with the program were more confident in my abilities than myself. What truly surprised me was that even though I am a self- taught designer, the feedback I received from the cohort designers was that I taught them a copious amount of things. Whether it was how to stay true to their aesthetic of design, or helping them understand the "why" behind their collections, my words engendered some type of positive change. On the program's impact: As someone who has dabbled in the arts since the age of 4, I can truly say that the EMERGE program has already, and will continue to create more leaders in the fashion industry. My first time visiting Northwest Arkansas, I was blown away by how much talent was in one place. These individuals just needed exposure. Robin has engendered a program that will not only challenge creatives, but actually force them to take a leap of faith with the abilities and talents they were blessed with. She is literally grooming the future of fashion before our eyes. I infer that this program will lead to the creation of a fashion district in Northwest Arkansas, creating more jobs and opportunities for the community. On the organization's values: I would truly like to thank Robin for keeping inclusion at the forefront the movement. She has been extremely vocal on where she stands when it comes to not judging a person based on their sexual orientation, skin color, etc. Out of all the choices she had for a designer-in-residence, she and her team took a chance on a self-taught, Black man from the Southside of Chicago. With so much going on in the world, it has been a breath of fresh air to know that the person who granted me this opportunity didn't do it because it's what's trending, she did it because she witnessed my talent before the color of my skin. Brandy Lee's work as part of the season one cohort will also be featured in the runway show. Lee was selected as the designer-in-residence for EMERGE II. At the program's conclusion, the education she Designer Brandy Lee is the second designer-in-residence chosen for the EMERGE program. Having been on the design cohort for season one, her pieces featured in the runway event are a continuation of a winter collection created in the fall in response to the exhibition "Nick Cave: Until." "As those pieces transferred from being winter to summer, they just kind of transformed into something different," she says of revisiting her winter designs. "And then this whole summer vibe came into play. I got a little more creative; I let the kite string out a little bit further. They're lots of fun, it's lots of color, lots of pattern, and it is more along the lines of wearable art, as opposed to 'typical' fashion, ready to wear. It's not ready to wear, that's for sure." facebook.com/shopbigsisterstudio, @bigsisterstudio on Instagram. (Courtesy Photo/Meredith Mashburn) "I have always said that fashion is art. Just like a painter or sculptor, fashion designers have to embrace their individuality to truly understand their aesthetic of design," Bruce Davis asserts. But, he notes, two major problems in the fashion industry are hindering social perception of fashion's artistic value: large companies copying designs from small batch designers to mass produce, and large house names selling the idea of luxury in their clothes. "A petrifying percentage of consumers are working long hours, killing themselves, just so they can be visually and socially accepted. They care more about how much the article of clothing is, and not about how it makes them feel. Fashion is a feeling." facebook.com/bruce.davis.921, @22ndelement on Instagram. (Courtesy Photo/Granddose) COVER STORY FYI For a full schedule and a map of the exhibition locations, visit interform. art/assembly. See Assembly Page 10