Tribe of Volcom: Spring 2011 Fashion Show
photo by John Eckmier
The Orange County diffusion of the hipster species (same cool-kid style, but add crunchy sun-bleached hair and deep tan as requisite accessories) caravanned en masse to the Cooper Design Space in downtown Los Angeles and mingled with L.A.’s scruffy East Side hipster set for Volcom’s Swim 2011 fashion show, held last night.
While most of the swim industry is in Miami for Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Swim, happening right now (including Volcom’s sales team), the brand decided to make the 2011 swim collection’s runway debut in L.A. and open the RSVP list for the public to see it first. Last year, Volcom showed their 2010 swim collection in a “smaller-scale” event at the brand’s headquarters in Costa Mesa.
“This is definitely a step up,” said Suzanne Vallely, Volcom’s swim designer. “We want to get the buzz out; we wanted to get our name known. We wanted them to realize that we are in the swimwear business and we’re serious about it. We want them to be excited.”
Judging from the full-capacity attendance by Volcom’s loyal Kool-Aid drinkers, loud applause and frenzy of flashbulbs as the most over-the-top looks came down the runway, mission accomplished. The cavernous space was filled to the max with the brassy kind of girls that treat bikini tops if they are real clothes and dudes that radiate stoke because it's open bar and they’re bro-hugging friends they haven’t seen in weeks because they, like, just got back from shredding in Mexico or Costa Rica or El Salvador or whatever.
On the runway Vallely had fun with an “anything goes” approach that had everything in “music, nature, pop art, butterfly wings, florals, tropicals” tacked on her mood board. The most stunning looks were the one-piece suits (many of which where made specially for the show), such as a bustier maillot with denim panels, a one-piece with Chevron stripes and a black monokini with the Volcom Stone logo cut out in sheer mesh.
Musician and stylist Jennifer Herrema—who has a rocker denim collabo with Volcom—piled more tribal flavor on top of the tribal theme by adding beaded necklaces and jewelry that were made in Africa.
Prints like this butterfly collage had a photographs-seen-through-a-kaleidoscope cool trippiness. Photo by John Eckmier
Some of the pieces, like this denim-accented bustier one-piece were made special for the fashion show. Photo by John Eckmier
Pretty girly girl pastels done the "Volcomized" way. Photo by John Eckmier
Photo by John Eckmier
They sneaked the Volcom Stone logo in ways that were blunt but with a twist, like this one cut out in sheer mesh. Photo by John Eckmier
