By Joella Clove

The Porcupine Theater was packed last Friday as the Homer community gathered for the annual Wearable Arts fashion show to view work by seven local designers in “The Garden of Earthly Delights.” Fashion is popular in Homer, and the event was a big hit, with seats sold out for both the 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. shows.

Wearable Arts stepped up the game this year by offering a meaningful cash prize for the best outfit. Judges made quick decisions as each designer sent up three outfits in three minutes to cross the stage. Without time to get up close and tactile with the outfits, the judges looked for a few criteria: how closely outfits followed the theme, how much creativity was used, and how well the finished project was executed. 

After the top four designs were voted in by the judges, those four were presented on stage a second time to undergo the “clap test.” The biggest response from the audience ultimately determined which outfit won the cash prize. 

“We want to encourage new people to get involved,” said Lynn Burt, who is a long-time member of the Homer Fiber Arts Collective, the sponsoring organization, and served on the judging panel.

Winner among designers at the 5 p.m. show was Kari Multz featuring her fashion line No Apology. The 9 p.m. show winner was Elise Schinksy with  her fashion line Lucid Lynx. The community showed much support, and many audience members walked to the front to share their own handmade outfit and compete for the best in the audience award.

The show theme was inspired by Dutch painter Heironymus Bosch’s oil painting “The Garden of Earthly Delights,” which depicts a clothed woman draped in luscious folds standing beside a towering potted lily. Popping spring colors and textures in abundance carried forward a “turn of the season” sentiment during this year’s wearable arts show. The show date could not have been a better reflection of the theme as it fell on the flower moon.

Renowned stilt troop Sea Legs entertained guests prior to the show. Decked with billowing tulle, giant headdresses and wispy wigs, the enchanting trio of the night hovered well above eye level and stilted about waving tissue flowers. Everything about the atmosphere said “runway show time” as the lighting dimmed and the music shifted. Showtime kicked off with roller skaters zooming down the aisles and performing tricks by the front row, even pulling off a handstand.

The format of this year’s event changed significantly.

“Previously, anyone could submit their art, and the team would find volunteer models to wear it. Sometimes there would be as many as 100 submissions and models would have to change three or four times during the show,” said designer Carly Garay. “This year, the show flow was inspired by the popular TV show Project Runway and RuPaul’s Drag Race. We reached out to a small number of local artists/designers to create a three-piece design collection. Then we invited audience members to come dressed in their own handmade fashions for a shared runway segment of the show.”

Spurred on by Homer Fiber Arts Collective, this annual show gives a much needed outlet for local designers to publicize their work. All primary members of the Homer Fiber Arts Collective were active in the show as designers or serving on the judging panel.

“There is no First Fiber Friday. No nine-to-five runway exhibiting this grueling work and invention,” said mistress of ceremonies Gabrielle Martin. “… Fiber artists do more than work with material. They salvage it, create it, study its history, or acknowledge that it has one. They care, whether it was grown from the earth or formed in a womb. They respect it.” 

Wearable Arts has been selling out shows since it started in the 1980s. After Kim Terpening launched the show, it continued to gain traction in the fiber arts community.

“In the early years Kari Multz got involved as a designer and quickly became the creative lead on the project. She has been the visionary director behind all of the shows in recent years.” Garay said, “Her energy and passion for community, fashion design and responsible re-use of materials have been a big part of the show’s continued success. Bunnell Street Arts Center has also been an important force behind the art show, contributing in myriad ways to help the annual production bloom. Wearable Arts has always been a production for the community, by the community.”

Fashion spoke in so many ways during the event. Pieces of ecology, ancestry, personhood and futuristic imagination all took their turns in the spotlight. Linen collection by Ann Margret Wimmerstedt beguiled with its simplicity. Wedding gowns found a new life under the inspired hand of designer Heidi Catlett. The immersive fashion experience continued: fiber intensive felted and knit designs by Beth Carroll, a little bit of everything in tributes to the excess and bizarre by Kari Multz, and organic fibers and revitalized relics by Elise Schinsky. Imagination reached its zenith in “time traveling mystic and her venue of vultures” featuring thrift finds and paper mache by Carly Garay.

The night heralded a bold creative voice, the voice of women becoming beautiful on their own terms as macrame designer Chelsea Mae, in collaboration with Sherry Robinson, sent Temptress, The Spirited Spinster, and The Legendary Lilith onto stage. Designs shown during “Garden of Earthly Delights” ranged from glam and endearing to activist and weatherproofing. Each outfit shown represented an amazing amount of care and individual attention. Clearly, fashion is alive and well in Homer.

“Change is the only constant, and we are excited to see what’s coming,” said Multz,  a long-time member of Homer Fiber Arts Collective, owner at The Fringe and a key organizer behind Wearable Arts.