Generally, I attend a runway show to see a designer’s new collection. Ironically, last Friday’s Zivity Striptease Fashion Show & Charity Auction presentation was billed as much for the clothes and accessories as it was for what was not-so-coyly hidden underneath.The evening was divided into two nearly (a wink and a smile) equally as entertaining parts: a fashion show featuring capsule collections from Sugarpuss, Invisible Hero Industries, Steam Trunk, MonTree, Danielle Pettee, Nocuous, Magdalena May Trevor and Chrystie Cappelli and a striptease auction benefiting more than half a dozen charities.
Potrero Hill’s swanky event space Robert Fountain Studios (RF80) served as the perfectly intimate venue. Aglow in warm candlelight and decadent chandeliers, the inviting urban setting boasted private enclaves for prime pre-show mingling, while guests enjoyed a sampling of hors d’oeuvres and an open bar. Scantily-clad Zivity girls dispersed through the hip crowd, giving new meaning to “eye-candy” as they offered more than enough treats to satisfy even the most persistent oral fixation. But enough of the foreplay, on to the main event!
Screened from stage right, a live-stream projection feed added another layer of voyeuristic appeal to the show’s tit-for-tat platform, while some of the evening’s highest bidders overlooked the red-carpeted runway from the mezzanine off stage left.
The winning auction prizes raising nearly $6,000 included: a cropped nude leather bolero by Sugarpuss, earning $400 for the American Cancer Society; Invisible Hero’s blue and white summer fun dress, grossing $425 for Lifesavers Wild Horse Rescue; a black and white menswear vaudeville jumpsuit by Steam Trunk, netting $425 for Save Tibet; MonTree’s black lace harem pant paired with a cream lace top, garnering $450 for the Global Opportunity Fund; Danielle Pettee’s ivory lace romper, yielding $650 for Kiva; a black satin dress by Nocuous, securing $900 for Youth Speaks; and the evening’s highest winning bid, Chrystie Cappelli’s Venus collar, wrangling an impressive $2,600 for Steven’s Hope. The last item even had a few in the audience joining in on the striptease fun. With the hauntingly ethereal music by Boyfriend Academy playing overhead, I couldn’t help but think to myself, never was there a more altruistic reason to bare it all… Who knew being bad could do so much good?
Launched in 2007, Zivity is a subscription-based, interactive, online networking platform that was designed to profitably link creative professionals to their fan base in the evolving digital media landscape.
Below, a few choice looks from the runway show:
Pho
Photography courtesy of Warren DiFranco /After 5 Media.
About the photographer: Warren Difranco Hsu is a freelance documentary and fashion photographer in the San Francisco Bay Area. His service to the photographic community includes compelling and stunning imagery of local fashion and entertainment culture in San Francisco. He delves into all scenes in San Francisco, including urban, gothic, fetish, high society, culinary and high fashion social-scapes in San Francisco. Fashion is the most obvious reference to the evolution of style and trend, defining the looks and attitude of modern global culture. The future of his work in fashion will show preceptual moments in that evolution, steeped in political meaning and homage. Coupled with high budgets and haute couture, Warren Difranco hopes to continue his work producing the most avant garde of work in this complex story of fashion.
Pingback: Zivity Fashion Show and Charity Auction « Boyfriend Academy