I once tried to make a bikini out of Fruit Loops – a disastrous project that resulted in melted clear plastic, hundreds of broken colored “o”s, and several hot-glue burns. So when I hear about designers making “edible fashions,” I’m duly impressed and skeptical. But what the designer/chef teams managed to pull off for last night’s Toast of the Town event was nothing less than awesome (in the literal, not California slang, meaning of the word).
I’m not exactly sure how they managed it, but nearly every team concocted an outfit that was not only inventive in its use of materials, but was actually attractive too – as in, if it wouldn’t wilt and smell in four hours, people might consider wearing it in real life (Of course, I didn’t manage to get photos of most of them). My favorite was a piece co-created by Ashley Miller of Tres Agaves: a classy, sassy strapless number made from tequila labels and the curled peels of 250 limes. Of course, there were also the outliers: Sean O’Brien from Myth concocted a halter top with octopus tentacles as fringe (ew!), and the “anarchy confectionary” wedding dresses decorated with candy co-created by Elizabeth Faulkner of Citizen Cake were fun, but too obviously, well, decorated with candy.
Some designers go for “pretty” or “interesting.” But chef Sean O’Brien was going more for shock value than anything else with this octopus number. Of skinning the octopus to make the bodice, he said, “think about Silence of the Lambs.” Um, OK.
All in all, though, the fashion show far exceeded my expectations, in both form and function. It’s a good thing none of the dresses were for sale, as I might’ve had to buy ‘em all (with my imaginary trust fund, of course), and then a dress-sized icebox to go next to my armoire. I guess it’s back to ill-advised home projects for me.
Olympic medallist Allison Wagner modeled a (what else?) aquatic-themed bikini co-created by event host Marisa Churchill (of Top Chef fame), featuring sugar “sand,” gum paste “turquoise beads,” and fish bone accents.
More photos, including those of food, celebrity attendees, and the dancing bow-tie guy, in this San Francisco Sentinel post.
Note: If you know which of the guest designers – Amy Kuschel, Jessica Summers, Joui Turandot, Stephanie Verrieres, and Kimie Sako – collaborated on which fashions, please let us know in the comments. We’d also love a photo of the Tres Agaves dress. I was too busy imagining myself in it to snap a picture of it. You can email a jpeg to molly@sfbg.com.