SXSW 2009 Fashion Show at The Music Gym by Ryan-Nicole Vintage
By Christopher McVnney
March 20th, 2009
The Music Gym, an official SXSW venue on 6th Street in downtown Austin, Texas hosted a vintage fashion show today (Friday, March 20th, 2009) featuring clothing and models from Ryan-Nicole.com. Ryan-Nicole Vintage is a new Austin-based online vintage clothing store that also offers modeling services and wardrobe rentals.
Photographs from the Ryan-Nicole Vintage Fashion Show during SXSW 2009 at The Music Gym in downtown Austin, Texas.
The event had a great turn-out and opened with a number of musical acts from Austin and across the country. The blue sky and warm Texas sun provided the perfect backdrop to the outdoor fashion show.
Music kicked off around 12:30pm with Persian Wars warming up the crowd with a unique blend of psychedelic folk, rich in vocal harmonies. Then Bankrupt & The Borrowers really got it going with an emotional set of blues/grunge that had a punkish, often sing-along quality. One couldn't help but bobbing their head to this band. Their set even featured a live horn section at the end.
The Always Already, a two-piece electronic group, carried the music on into the sunny afternoon with their brand of freestyle electro beats, live vocals and synthesizers. That duo was followed by an intensely lively and very funky performance by the San Francisco group Sugar and Gold. This band really knows how to perform. The group's lead singer/guitarist was dressed in full drag, and the female vocalist was as funky as Aretha Franklin and as gorgeous as Beyonce Knowles. These guys somehow struck me as what the local Austin-based band Black and White Years might be like if they moved to San Francisco and added Bootsy Collins on bass. Great set for sure.
After Sugar and Gold, Zeale held it down with some surprisingly refreshing, live hip hop. The local MC's were insightful and fluid on the microphone, and had some solid original beats to back them up. L.A.X. opened for the main event of the evening and rocked their dance hybrid of House, R&B and Pop.
The fashion show itself was mc'd by the charismatic and always entertaining Neiliyo, a well-known Austin vocalist, musician and performer. A mellow but driving house/electronic soundtrack by DJ John Mata of San Antonio accompanied Neiliyo's narration during the runway show.
Each model heated up the Music Gym Showcase Stage in stunning vintage outfits hand-picked by stylist Lance Blakely. There were 10 models from Ryan-Nicole Vintage all gracefully sharing the stage and 10 foot runway. Many of the models present can be seen sporting the clothes on the new vintage clothing dealer's website.
News and media were present including Buzzkill.tv, Good Looks Photo and SXSW media. Frankie Oliveras of Grapevine Salon provided the beautiful hair styles, Bobbi Douglas and Kelly Wilson also of Grapevine Salon did the makeup, along with makeup artist Krys Lyon.
Food was provided by Pie Guys Pizzeria, The Music Gym and Sed's BBQ of Austin. Beverages were catered by Pink Avacado Catering and The Music Gym staff.