KANSAS CITY, Mo. – There’s more to being a fashionista than loving style. For Jess Afshar and Kim Wallace, it means learning to be both the artist and the art.
“Being in the military for six years and wearing a uniform everyday, I knew as soon as I got out, I was going to start wearing something besides green and black,” said Jess, the blogger behind Mimi and Chichi Fashion.
She and Kim, a beauty, fashion and cupcake connoisseur who runs KimberlyLoc.com, hit Kansas City’s Fashion Week to see what designs would make their way from the catwalk to the Kansas City side-walk.
“We’re going to see an emergence of the 50s style,” said Kim. “We’re seeing lots of high waists and high heels. So, a more lady-like tailored look that will take us from spring into fall.”
While Jess buys lots of basics, like jeans, tees and blazers, she says the upcoming season is all about bring in the brights.
“Colored jeans – red and blue and then printed jeans – leopard print and zebra print; so those are the trends I’m jumping on board.”
During the four-day extravaganza, Jess and Kim took dozens of pictures and lots of notes as 200 models and 22 local designers combine their efforts to highlight the Metro’s budding fashion scene.
“We have a melting pot of people here and we have a melting pot of style,” said Kim. “That’s what makes us unique – we can draw from those different climates and those different cultures and make it our own.”
Some of the ready to wear fashions from KC’s Fashion Week will make their way into local boutiques, though Jess said there’s enough talent for them to go beyond the metro.
“I think no matter where you are, as long as you have a unique point of view, people are going to want to wear your clothes,” said Jess.
Case in point – her co-blogger, Gita Woosley, knows a San Antonio, Texas-based designer who was asked to work New York’s Fashion Week.
So, Jess and Kim say, why not KC? They say fashion is already seeing a Midwestern influence with models walking down runways wearing cowboy boots and denim tops.
“Fashion is something that comes and goes, but style is something you make yourself,” said Kim. “Glamour is something you make yourself. So, don’t be a slave to fashion. Be true to yourself and pick what you like out of fashion and make it your own.”
Learn more about fashion from the metro and beyond, by visiting Mimi and Chichi Fashion and Kimberlyloc.com.
