Nika Tang

Over the last month and a half, I have been working on a new project, Red Silk Project. Now that it is complete, it is time to talk about it here.

Photo by Stef Patashvili

The Red Silk Project is a journey, a journey in celebration of creation, beauty, and collaboration. It is meant to be a procession, a spiritual and exotic tribute both to the Temple and what it symbolizes as well as the people and the desert. This year, the procession will take place at sunset, Friday, September 4, 2009, the day before the burn from deep end to the temple, a three mile dance and pilgrimage. Five dancers dressed in red and black silks, lace, and headdresses travel to the horizon.

Photo by Anton Stroganov

This project is about the social interactions between the “audience” and the “performers”, but it is also a color study, a study in the placement of characters, framing, music and the interaction between the procession as an entity within its environment. It is entitled “red silk” but only one main character will be in red, as the leader of the group, she personifies the goddess, rich, embracing, and sensual as the other dancers embrace her being, interact with the audience and invite their response through their movements, their emotions, and their dance.

Photo by Stef Patashvili

All designs were organically made, taking into the concept of working with the multiple mediums and various techniques of fabric manipulation, papier mache, and construction. Every artists had a very different background as well as style which gave life and a different spirit to each of their headdresses. The form was very important, the base of each piece started with a three dimensional study of shape, dimension, and volume and to build on top of that over weeks time.

Photo by Stef Patashvili

The fashion style is a mix between science fiction of Aeon Flux and the dark romanticism of Luis Royo. Taking into the background of the colors of the desert, the luminance of the sunset, warm and dark tones are placed into it. A natural fluctuation of the fabrics is visible from afar, as well as the definite and explicit contours and the volumes of the base elements of the headpieces and the outfits close by. Each element embraces opposites – the outside and the inside, the rigid and the fluid, the richness of the reds and the formality of the blacks.

Photo by Anton Stroganov

I was first inspired to design by my first trip to the desert. Not only is this project intended for Burning Man, the process is also important. It took over a month long preparation of local artists, including jewelry designer Josie Adele, mask expert Jesse Kauppila, make up artist Aurora Jimenez, as well as the creative input of model Anat Elektrik.

See more images from the procession below:

Anat Kat

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The “Designer Showcase” runway event at the Mezzanine was quite the success. Opel, Syd Girls, and Eternal Spring Productions were able to put together a spectacular catwalk presenting designs from seven most talented and local designers. The venue seemed like the best choice because of its availability in space from bottom to second floor. Guests were split evenly so they were able to enjoy the show and the after party in comfortable couches, numerous bars, provocative lighting, and of course, the smoke-up section. Musical guests like Stanton Warriors pumped up the scene from before the show began and continued to do so after. A wild audience didn’t seem to stop jumping and dancing throughout the five hours of the fashion event. This was all before the stage curtain, so, what happened behind? Crowded backstage held amazing make-up artists, hair stylists, beautiful models, and several suitcases lying on the floor where each designer made adjustments to outfits up to the last detail of perfection. Photographers would come and go to snap a picture at the madness happening before the show. With forty models getting ready to pose, you can image how hectic the situation was. Even with this, it never stopped the fun from entering the room. At line-up time everyone was ready to walk. The backstage room filled up with excitement and impatience each time each designer presented their stuff to the eager crowd. And at the end it was completely worth it!

VINDYCO – Retro Barbie-like outfits in a blend with sequins, mini-skirts, and metallic colors. It was great to see Cindy’s designs on stage and how they can each stand out but come together and form a lovely collection.

DIMITRI & DEVORA – With a wide range of color, Dimitri and Devora presented a vivid mix of prints in style variations of tube dresses that models took down the runway with no shoes on but with a very natural and seemingly sensual face to the audience.

DANDELIONS AND DEAN – Wearing dark make-up and a puffed up ponytail, Joy Dean’s designs walked down the runway with nothing but a confident look and amazing assortment that included ruffled dresses, feather shoulders, and wide leg pants in bright blue color made this collection a hit.

INVISIBLE HEROE INDUSTRIES – From flower print satin to a denim strapless to black lace and sheer fabrics, Charlie B. does not cease to impress. Her variety of dresses kept the crowd looking and making their picks out of the whole collection making it a very successful one.

KAYO – Kayo’s designs stood out from the rest by exploring a color palette into many possibilities. Similar prints were turned from dresses to pants and tops which made the collection very cohesive. Adding to this, models had eye liner that matched the color of the outfits and each other while their hair was explosive and big creating the best combination.

LITTLE RED SPARROW/ELLA MENTAL – Nika Tang collaborates with Alyssa Ghessi to create a new collection filled with color, dynamics, feathers, and soft comfortable cotton wears and dance fabrics. This collection incorporates strong warm tones, dyamic textile designs, and hat designs to create the modern “cowgirl”.

MISS VELVEL CREAM x ESTAR x FLUIDANCE – Scatha joined forces with Allison from Estar Hats and Josie Adele from Fluidance. Together they put together a vibrant combination of dark colored dresses in satin, and velvet, stunning hair pieces with delicate detail, and a surprising combination of trims and shapes in their collection.