Miami Style Battle

Miami

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home > arts,culture&fashion > Miami Style Battle

January 30, 2008 5:49 PM
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Style War returns to Miami in the form of Style Battle, a warehouse packed with trendiness, models and free vodka.

On a typical day the Sony Ice Palace film studio can be a pretty desolate place if not put into use. Last weekend this wasn’t the case as Stolichnaya took over the venue and turned it into the Stoli Hotel teaming up with the House of Diehl to present Miami Style Battle, an event that brought together artists and designers to compete on the runway for bragging rights and $500.

The venue itself was definitely a sight to see as the red Stoli lighting bounced off the walls creating an exclusive atmosphere. VIP rooms were created each donning different colors representing the Stoli flavors. If the bottles surrounding the walls of the rooms were too enticing for guests, a full Stoli bar was set up to provide complimentary vodka. Guests could also reserve their place at the spa located at the back of the venue for a quick rub down. Did I mention there was free Stoli vodka? The place was a true Russian’s paradise.

The catwalk in the middle of it all was where the real action happened. Halfway through the event the crowd slowly collected around it as models on stage took their place and the battle was underway. The designers and artists had five minutes to use a variety of items and clothing to collectively put together an ensemble for the beauties on stage that were provided by Wilhelmina Models. With their help the artists and designers were able to relive their childhood and play dress-up as the models posed as life-size Barbie dolls.

It was sheer chaos onstage once one of the hosts from the show, Roman Milisic, would yell “Style!”

“It’s live, it’s in your face, it’s done in less than five minutes and it comes from the street,” Milisic said.

Millisic Inspects the Damage

The designers and artists would quickly react by ripping, tearing or bending whatever object they had in hand in order to create an outfit that pleased the audience, but most importantly the judges.

Regional Event Director for Gen Art, Monica Glass, was one of the judges on the panel and in some cases was the determining factor as to who would move on to the next round.

“I thought that the event was fun and that they did a great job on the set and production,” Glass says. “It was great to see the dynamic that came with the artists. They got really creative and it was difficult to judge on who the winner would be.”

This year’s winner was Kayce Armstrong, owner and designer for Art of Shade. Armstrong’s designs are based on and created using recycled materials, something that definitely helped her in the competition, and vintage fabrics.

“I mostly looked for the finished look, for whoever really went above and beyond and Kayce really made this happen.” Glass said about the judging. “The actual performance of creating your piece was important as well.”

Monica Glass Makes Her Pick

From the looks of the crowd in attendance the style battle wasn’t only on stage, as the majority of the crowd strutted their chic outfits, maybe looking to make a statement themselves. Some of the ladies in the crowd definitely looked like they belonged on stage.

The event seemed like an overall success and continued on after the battle was over as the trendy mob shifted over to the White Room for the after-party.

This year’s Style Battle was the epitome of fashion, glam, beauty, fun and booze. This is a must see event that has to be experienced.