In place of Hot Couture this year, we are focusing on preparing for our upcoming events and continuing to increase our investment in our educational mission to make the industrial arts more accessible to youth and the Greater Bay Area.
The Crucible is seeking designer and artist submissions for Hot Couture 2017, our annual show integrating bold design, visionary fashion, and fire accessories. Our four-night event, February 16-19, 2017, will feature artists and designer teams creating haute couture concepts that illustrate the intersection between fashion, traditional industrial materials, and fabrication.
For Hot Couture 2017, we are inspired by the boundary-defying showmanship of Prince. He embodies what we want for our fire fashion show: innovative artistry, iconic fashion, perpetual creativity, bold vision, and lots and lots of love. Like his collaboration with other talented artists, we encourage designers to build strong runway presentations that celebrate diversity and funk and excellence in all its forms. As such, the theme for the next Hot Couture will be “The Beautiful Ones”.
The Hot Couture fashion shows will take place Thursday, February 16 to Sunday, February 19, 2017. The final dress rehearsal (open to the community) will be on Wednesday, February 15. An initial run through/fire rehearsal will be on Friday, February 10. The Crucible will provide a materials stipend for each designer/team selected. Designers will have access to The Crucible for meetings, production rehearsals, and several fabrication tools. All artists and designers will be credited for their work and the contracted designer will receive four complimentary tickets for one of the shows (night TBD). The Crucible will hire and staff all production details for the runway show. This includes lighting, pyrotechnics, ticketing, security, hospitality, and front of house. Designers are responsible for hiring their own models, makeup artists, and hair artists.
Professional and amateur designers are welcome. To submit an application for inclusion in our next Hot Couture performance, send your biography, contact info, and proposal to events@thecrucible.org. Larger format files can be sent via dropbox or hard copies delivered in person to The Crucible. Please include the following in your submission:
The Crucible’s fiery fusion of fashion design and industrial art returns! One of our signature events, this multidisciplinary performance is a collaboration between local Bay Area fashion designers and industrial artists, mixing haute couture concepts with fine arts and industrial arts. With stunning, cutting edge looks, fire effects and three runway walks rivaling Milan, this is the East Bay’s annual can’t-miss fashion and art experience. And, famed Bay Area radio personality Sterling James will emcee the event! for the vibe! Also, the acclaimed El Paisa Taco Truck will be on site. Advance price tickets still available, but VIP packages are sold out.
“… Burning Man meets Cirque du Soleil.” — KQED Arts
Questions about this event? Email us for more information!
THE CRUCIBLE
1260 7th Street
Oakland, CA 94607
Directions
FREE SECURE PARKING is available while space lasts, in the lot just west of The Crucible at 1300 7th Street. The Crucible also has a small parking lot on the corner of 7th & Union that will be available for both disabled placard parking and unattended parking. Those spaces are available on a first-come, first-serve basis and go quickly. There are also two paid parking lots in the vicinity that are often monitored. One is on Kirkham Avenue and the other is the 5th Street lot by BART. Please do not park in lots owned by local businesses or the residential area behind The Crucible, as your car may be towed.
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San Francisco born designer Domonique Echeverria mixes romantic divinity with future tribalism, a nod to the past, and an ode to female power. Now based in New York City, her approach to Hot Couture this year includes chiffon gowns, headdresses, taffeta statement pieces, body harnesses and necessary outerwear for harsh weather and hiding treasures. The chiffon will mimic the flow of water and the details will mimic Aquatic Priestesses, the tafeta will mimic the folds and hills of the earth, organzas will be incorporated to give a light feel of air along with beaded rain, and detailing of feathers and body accents will allow the feeling of fire. Learn more about Hot Couture here.
We are extremely excited to showcase the wild and imaginative designs of local artists Angelique Benicio and Tansy Brooks at Hot Couture 2014. The multimedia costume designs with a “Wild Tales” theme have been created by Angelique Benicio with glass and metal accents by Tansy Brooks.
Hot Couture 2013. Design by Jeaneen Brunck, back with new designs in 2014!
On each night of The Crucible’s Hot Couture 2014 your ticket will let you experience three distinct runway shows. Each multidisciplinary performance will feature first-ever public viewings of stunning, cutting edge looks, and fire effects on the swirling fibonacci runway especially built for this event in our 56,000 sq. ft. West Oakland warehouse. Don’t miss a moment!
With the fashion back on hangers, the runway disassembled and the fire poofers put away (for now), we wanted to take a moment and thank The Crucible community for helping make our second Hot Couture fashion show even hotter, more creative and dynamic than we dared imagine.
We could not have put on two sold-out nights of fashion, fire and industry without the talents of our featured design teams including Alex Glowaski, Annamarta Dostourian, Avant Vouge, Bonde, Erin Mahoney and O’Lover Hats, Coyote Counter Collective, Heather Wakefield, Jeaneen Brunck, Latex Fashionistas, and SENSOREE Design Lab. Thanks to Bianca Starr Productions there was a method to our madness which showed off beautifully on the recycled aluminum stage donated by CASS.
We are incredibly grateful for the overwhelming support from the press which included a front page feature of the San Francisco Chronicle Style Section. Hot Couture was also the Editor’s Pick at Diablo Magazine, East Bay Express and Flavorpill, and enjoyed positive reviews from Oakland Magazine, Oakland North, Oakland Local, Mercury News, Makezine Blog, Fecal Face, Examiner and Just Luxe Living.
Were you inspired by what you saw at Hot Couture? Want to learn sewing basics? We have a class for that! How about lighting up your wardrobe with LEDs for the summer party season? We can help you demystify that Light Emitting Diode. Want to make fashion forward jewelry? Learn to design, anneal and shape a special piece, which until now only existed in your imagination. Or perhaps you want to get up on stage and dance with fire? – You’ll want to sign up for a Fire Performance class where you can learn to hoop, spin and even eat fire.
Come and join the fun!
Photo on right by Chris Willis. Jeaneen Brunck design.
Miss Velvet Cream is neo-couture clothing created by Scatha G. Allison that embodies silhouettes of the past with dreams of the future, all bridged by the conscious present. Allison’s design is guided by aesthetics of construction and innovation that are individualized, craft-intensive and committed to excellence in quality, wearability and above all, beauty.
Allison created outfits for Hot Couture 2008 and 2013 at The Crucible, and has designed and worked on projects with the YBAC Artists Ball, The Exploratorium, Second Skin Project, Vau De Vire, Bad Unkl Sista, SF Boylesque, Headmistress Dance Troupe, The Luggage Store Gallery, In The Street Arts Festival, Black Rock Arts Foundation, Pyroglyphicks, Burning Man Festival in Nevada and numerous private collections and commissioned projects.
Photos courtesy of Heather Wakefield.
Heather Wakefield has been sewing things since she was a child. It really does not take much to get her going creatively and she describes her studio, Satellite Art Station, as “a large, timeless, magical place