Fade to Light: A Multidimensional Fashion Event, a biannual fashion show that encourages designers to think outside the box regarding their runway presentations, is happening tonight and will feature new collections from Adelheid Bergin, MOORE, Sara Bergman, Veil & Valor, Wendy Ohlendorf, West Daily, and SEARCH3R, a special collaborative collection designed by Altar Houseline, Michelle Lesniak, and Wolf Child. (Full disclosure: I am the executive producer of this event.)
Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside, Wednesday August 24, 6:30 pm, $10-$75
Native Fashion Now, the exhibition at Portland Art Museum that showcases apparel and accessories from contemporary Native American designers, has hosted several lectures in conjunction with the exhibit, and will end the run with a bang with a two-part lecture series titled Critical Conversations: Native Fashion and Appropriation. The conversation series “will bring together different regional design voices to offer personal reflections on what terms like ‘Native-inspired’ mean within the Northwest and larger fashion world.” Part I will take place tomorrow and include Portland Monthly style editor Eden Dawn, Nike N7 Fund general manager Sam McCraken, and other special guests.
Portland Art Museum, 1219 SW Park, Thursday August 25, 6:30-7:30 pm, free
Portland Fashion Institute is celebrating their six-year anniversary with an Open House and Party, which also happens to coincide with the launch of their third annual Business of Apparel classes. Meet the instructors of PFI, along with the owner and headmaster Sharon Blair, and partake in activities that include a panel discussion at 12 pm, machine knitting, screen printing, and pattern making demonstrations at 1 pm, enter to win a sewing machine from Montavilla Sewing Center, and eat cake!!!
Portland Fashion Institute, 2111 NE 43rd, Saturday August 26, 11 am-2 pm
Portland Flea + Food is back with their monthly last Sunday event. This one will feature Architecture's Influence on Product Design, a panel discussion on the future of product design with Reed LaPlant Studio and Brendon Farrell, the new Rejuvenation director of product design, Evan Dublin and guests inside Rejuvenation at 2 pm. It will also feature an adoption booth from One Tail at a Time dog shelter, as well as their regular stock of vendors selling clothing and accessories, furniture and decor, and food and drinks. Check out the complete vendor list here.
1100 SE Grand, Sunday August 28, 11 am-4 pm, free
Urban Air Market is returning to Portland for the third year with their curated outdoor marketplace that focuses on sustainable design. The venue has changed from Zidell Yards to the Pearl District and the event boasts over 70 designers, musicians, and artists from the Portland area, with a few select designers from Washington and California. A peek on their list of vendors brought up names that I am not familiar with and seem to be those “few select designers from Washington and California,” but it looks like a great event to check out independent makers and artists that work beyond the boundaries of Portland.
NW 13th and NW Hoyt, Sunday August 28, 11 am-6 pm, free