Socio XIV Recap

Thank you to all who attended the Socio XIV Papier Couture runway show. The event took place in the second floor warehouse at the Portland Art Institute with food and drinks as well as an exhibition of the original art used in the dresses and a 4-UP photo booth to commemorate the event. The show, hosted by the AIGA, was sold-out with over 400 people present to view the Oregon Ballet Theatre dancers debut the collection. I think everyone will agree that the dancers were amazing! They danced in the dresses as if they were. . . well. . . not made of paper. The response has been remarkable and I am still receiving feedback that the show was creatively inspiring. Yes! That is the reason we share our artwork. . . to inspire others. . . to elicit emotion. From that vantage point alone, the show was a great success. You can view the runway show photos at papier-couture.com

There was a wonderful group of people who came together to make this event happen: the sponsors, the dancers, and the event producers. The list is very long but, in particular, I'd like to send a heartfelt thank you to Shelly Mix (AIGA president) and the board of the AIGA. They believed in my project from the beginning which certainly fueled the fire. I also want to thank the team at Graphic Arts Center. They donated the printing of the beautiful Papier Couture brochures. Working with their production team was by far the best printing experience I have ever had. The Art Institute staff also deserves a special thanks. Their energy and participation in putting the event together on site was invaluable.

Finally, I want to talk about the creative team. I personally love the process of creative collaboration and feel that I become a stronger artist and designer when I team with other creative minds.
This dream team includes:
- Sean Moran, the artist and designer who allowed me to remix his drawings and paintings for the "fabric" of the dresses, designed the website, and was there throughout the project to share his creative input.
- Manny Minjarez, the photographer who made the dresses come to life behind his camera.
- Mark Putnum, the hair stylist who gathered an amazing team to style for the photo shoot and the runway show.
- Kristen Arnette, the makeup artist who went into a realm of amazing with her talent at both the photo shoot and the runway show.
- Kurt Nishimura, the very talented video director who edited and produced a DVD of the runway show overnight so that we could have it playing in the gallery.
- Q6 Models, each one seemed to be a perfect fit for the dress they wore.
- Oregon Ballet Theatre, the dancers who brought their talent into an unfamiliar arena and performed with pure grace.

The Papier Couture gallery show featuring the dresses, artwork and photos will be on display at the upcoming AIGA PDXpo on November 8, 2006, before it begins its national tour in '07. Hope to see you there!

Lia Griffith