by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
“We’re establishing ourselves on the fashion map right here at the Landing. This is going to be our coming-out party.”
That’s how Kara Bazma founder Brandon Shalton describes “FSHN Fest,” this weekend’s celebration of fashion design, hairstyle, makeup, photography and runway modeling at Hogan Street and Independent Drive.
Shalton opened Kara Bazma in September with one design, the classic “Little Black Dress,” but with a twist. Each dress is custom fitted and constructed from a pattern created by software Shalton, a self-described “dot-com survivor,” wrote. He couldn’t find one off the shelf that he felt confident would work well to sustain a business.
His proprietary design technique custom-fits each garment, which lets Shalton assure his clients: “We only make one size of dress – yours.”
The theme of FSHN Fest, the first of a series of quarterly festivals Shalton plans, will be the annual high school prom season. Even with advances in technology, Shalton said it’s one tradition that has maintained its roots.
“Going to the prom isn’t something you can do on the Internet. Young women still have to buy a dress and have their hair done,” he said.
In addition to introducing more people to the Kara Bazma couture concept, Shalton said another reason for FSHN Fest is to give more people in Jacksonville an opportunity to experience the various aspects of the industry.
“People love fashion and the point of the show is to make fashion available to everyone. We also want to show the market that you don’t have to have a lot of money and a perfect figure to be fashionable,” he said.
Beyond Saturday evening’s fashion show with 40 models on the runway, Shalton said workshops will be offered in fashion design, hairstyle, makeup and photography.
Festival attendees will be the first to see the next step in Kara Bazma’s retail concept development. Shalton is adding a boutique to the fabrication shop and showroom inside the Landing.
When he opened five months ago, there was one design and one fabric. That has grown to 15 designs and more than 100 fabric choices. Shalton said the boutique will display the dresses on mannequins and give customers an experience they can’t enjoy when shopping on the Internet.
“It will be more like a traditional walk-in store. We can offer our catalog of styles and customers can touch the fabrics,” he said.
Shalton believes the combination of Web-based marketing and traditional retail will give Kara Bazma an edge in the highly competitive fashion industry.
“No one else is doing it exactly like this. We’re pioneering a new way to market fashion,” he said.
For the complete schedule of activities and for ticket information, visit www.fshnfest.com.
356-2466