Saint Louis Fashion Week Recap, Part 1: Caleres Emerging Designer Competition

First, let me apologize for being away from the blog for a while.  I've been out living life, working a lot, and spending time visiting family.  Daylight Savings Time has taken more of a toll on me that I expected.  Seriously, this 5 pm darkness is such a drag, and I still haven't gotten on-track with only being able to take blog photos on the weekends.

But, I am back today with some coverage of Saint Louis Fashion Week!

The week included several fashion shows, but the biggest was the Caleres Emerging Designer Competition held at the historic St. Louis Union Station.  Over 1200 people attended this show, including the amazing businesswoman and fashion icon, Iris Apfel!  I was so excited to be in the same room as this QUEEN!

The fashion show featured the five finalists in a national design competition with the winner receiving an impressive $25,000 prize from the Saint Louis Fashion Fund.  Katherine Polk of Houghton took this year's prize with her crowd-pleasing collection.


First up was Jordana Warmflash of NOVIS.  I loved the fun and unique prints and smart use of color.  I found her collection to be one of the most wearable and practical for everyday life and appreciated the interesting cuts, fabric selection, and weaving technique.  While I adored individual pieces from all of the collections, NOVIS showed my favorite collection of the night.

Next up was Azede Jean-Pierre.  Since I love classic pieces with a modern twist and generally prefer to wear neutrals, I was a big fan of this collection.  The denim jumpsuit look was my favorite from this collection, but I really wanted to snag all the blazers.  Working in a business casual office setting, I was drawn to the sophisticated, laid-back twist on suiting.  The tie sleeves on the navy blazer is such a cool touch.

Julie Haus and Jason Alkire of Haus Alkire presented a collection that felt part tropical vacation, part urban day wear.  My favorite pieces from the collection were the tie-dye print maxi dresses and the leather culottes that I would pair for fall with high boots, a crop top, and wool jacket.

Katherine Polk of Houghton, the winner of the night, presented a beautiful, wearable collection of frothy (mostly white) dresses and pretty lace in a range of silhouettes. My favorite look from her collection was the simple lace slip dress with the tan belt.  I would add a black blazer and booties to this look to rock it in pretty much any season!

The last collection of the night was the architectural collection from Eckhaus Latta designers Mike Eckhaus and Zoe Latta.  This collection included a variety of pretty colors, but the artistic draping and cutouts definitely stole the show.  My favorite look from this collection was the sage mini-dress with its interesting layered effect.

All in all, the show was really amazing, and I loved how individual each collection's point of view was.  As beautiful as these clothes are, I'm holding out for a plus-size collection to make it to the competition next year.  It would be AMAZING to see more body diversity on the runway! Hint, hint!  #plussizeplease

Which collection was your favorite?

Get all the latest on Saint Louis Fashion Week by checking out #STLFW
All photos c/o Mark Schwigen

Thank you so much to the Midwest Influencer Network & Explore St. Louis for making my experience with STLFW possible!!