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Tampa area designers take their wearable artwork to runway
Dunedin Fine Art Center
Wearable Art 5 features an array of clothes made from unconventional materials and also will include functional, boutique-style clothing.
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Published: August 13, 2009
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Frank Strunk III creates fashion the same way he tackles sculpture — with metal, hammer and an English wheel.
"I use the same tools to create fashion as I do my sculptures and fine art pieces," says Strunk, 45, of St. Petersburg. "The sculptural pieces are comprised primarily [using] geometry."
The wearable art "is about the organic dimensional curves of the anatomy."
While Strunk's artistry has served him well professionally, he's reaping some of the benefits of his creative couture as well.
The designer will once again showcase his wares during the Dunedin Fine Art Center's Wearable Art 5, a fashion show devoted to more avant-garde forms of fashion.
"Art can be fun," says Kaya Parwanicka, founder of the event. "Walking into a museum can be intimidating. This is just another form of art we're showcasing. Hopefully, people will be inspired and have some fun."
Parwanicka launched the first Wearable Art Show in 2005 to differentiate from the more traditional works on display at the museum. The event has sold out each year since.
More than a dozen Tampa Bay area designers will show off an array of unconventional looks. They include Cindy Linville, who uses recycled materials in her clothing; Ivanka Ska, who creates fashion using paper; Sheree Lorraine, who incorporates coffee filters in her garb, and Ungala, who's partial to bubble wrap.
Strunk will send models down the runway in fashions forged from pounded and molded metal. He hopes to complete 10 pieces for his "Industrial Chic" line by show time.
Each piece must be designed to fit a particular model.
"I need very patient and willing models," says Strunk, who is a finalist in the World of Wearable Art in New Zealand. "They have to be fitted five or six times for several hours. There's a lot of shaping and complex curves — as there are with the female anatomy."
Although Wearable Art 5 features an array of clothes made from unconventional materials, the event also will include functional, boutique-style clothing.
"I like to see unusual materials," says Parwanicka, who selects all the artists for the show. "But I'm fine with regular fabric as long as it's well-done, creative and interesting. It has to grab me and make me say, 'Wow.' And these fashions will do that."
If you go
WEARABLE ART 5
WHAT: A fashion show highlighting models in unique outfits
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. pre-party and 9 p.m. runway show Saturday
WHERE: Dunedin Fine Art Center, 1143 Michigan Blvd., Dunedin
COST: General admission $15; reserved seating $50 and $75. Tickets can be purchased at www.dfac.org or by calling (727) 298-3322. For information, e-mail kaya@dfac.org.
Reporter Cloe Cabrera can be reached at (813) 259-7656.
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