Bronx Fashion Week? Welcome to the Party.

When my friend and fashion designer, Francoise Desmangles, (Fran) asked me to catch some images of her designs in this show I had to do a mental double take, Bronx Fashion Week?? there's no bronx fashion week!,.. was she mistaken? No she was not. The only borough without a contribution to the twice a year, city-wide, couture extravaganza, has tossed their hat into the fashion ring. The event took place on September 5th-7th, at the famed community center and artists haven, the Andrew Freedman Home. Founder and creator, Flora Montes and her staff produced a great show, and the staff was very friendly and accommodating. A great line up of fashion design talent ,an amazing line up of couture  (of course i'm  partial to the artistry and great designs of Francoise work) Due to another show commitment, I could not stay for the entirety of the show, but I definitely will return next fashion week, to see what surprises are in store. Welcome to the party Bronx Fashion Week!!

Designer : Alexander Costa

Designer: Shireen Dooling

Designer Shireen Dooling

Designer: Shireen Dooling

Designer: Shireen Dooling

Designer: Francoise Desmangles

Designer: Francoise Desmangles

Designer: Francoise Desmangles

Vintage Coutour Swimsuit Show 7/19/2014

How I managed to miss almost the whole entire show well, that's a story I'll save for another day. As I caught the tail end of it once I arrived, I did manage to see and capture a few swimsuit designs, networked with new designers like Francoise Desmangles, Sara Bunn, Camilla J. Coutour, among others. So the day wasn't a total lost. As always, the event was produced by Mario Buccari/Runway the Real Way Stylaga and held at the Yotel , in New York City.

Designer: Sara Bunn
Model: Fanta Camara

Model: Fanta Camara

Designer: Sara Bunn
Model: Arantxa

Four very smart, accomplished, beautiful  women
Designers Camilla J, Coutour, Francoise Desmangles, and their lovely models

Top Models can have a ball while working as well, ...on the left, Arantxa, on the right, Fanta Camara.

The Vintage Couture Fashion Show, ...unconventional, and spectacular.

I get around and shoot a good number of fashion runway events. As a freelance fashion runway photographer, you've got to establish your connects, do alot of networking. So when I got the green light to do this fashion show, I was stoked. The Yotel Hotel in Manhattan, swanky, upscale, I was ready to make some great runway images. Fashion Impresario/Czar/Producer "BigMario" Buccari ,  the C.E.O of Vintage Couture, met me as I got off the elevator, and said to me "are you ready", this is gonna be a show", how prophetic. A show it was. The 4th floor venue turned out to be one of the hotels swanky restaurants,  filled with twenty somethings, and a d.j. fueled soundscape that  just added to the uptown ambiance of the place. But,..it still was a restaurant, a full fledged,  ritzy uptown restaurant,...and busy. How was this going to happen? Very unconventional indeed, but,..it went off without a hitch, and smoothly actually,.. which is the beauty and the dynamic of a Vintage event, intimate, very visual,  stunning designs, beautiful models,.. and signature look. Vintage has created a unique niche in the fashion circles, and there's more up ahead, bravo,Vintage!

Vintage Couture C.E.O., Mario Buccari

A Grand Evening,..Our adventures in Gotham, The Cabaret Dancers, 1915, a good year for Taylor Studios

The year was 1915, and by chance, a great gentleman, Alderman O'Rourke, happened by our studio window front on Lenox avenue one Wednesday a little past noon, and inquired about our services and ability to capture photographs of prominent event goers at a function uptown at the swanky Hotel Algonquin. After settling the amount for the portraits, And the alderman gone, my studio partner and I marveled at the opportunity to venture uptown, and make photographs,..after all, this isn't Harlem. So when the day arrived, we grabbed our Kodak Autographic's and our Ansco Lamps, and headed towards Gotham. Once we arrived, we headed into the hotel via the wine cellar, near the horses. While setting up, I noticed two cabaret dancers practicing as for they were the entertainment, accompanying the orchestra as they play their symphonies. Very fleet and elegant they were, we were mesmerized by the fluidity of their dance. The madam yelled out to me, "make our photograph!!", and the gentleman dancer smiled. We felt compelled. What an opportunity. but had we brought enough 120 film to make photographs of the socialites, and the dancers? I didn't care, even though we had plenty, the moment could not escape us. The Pictorialists would not be happy with us, but it was a new day, and as a believer in the modernist movement, this could be my contribution to our new art form. it was a grand night, I remember it well. We never got the names of the two cabaret dancers,..but instead we captured their time, for all time.