CRYSTAL CITY – Crystal Couture, a weeklong fashion event and trunk sale in Crystal City, returned this year from Feb. 5-9, bringing together more than 80 of the Washington D.C., area’s fashion boutiques and designers in a vacant office space in downtown Crystal City, Va.
“It is a runway show, a trunk sale, a time to sip and shop and save in a really cool venue that you might not expect,” said Angela Fox, chief executive of the Crystal City Business Improvement District, which runs the event. “People can come with their friends, sip a little wine, shop and enjoy the runway at the same time. It’s a really creative way to showcase Crystal City and make fashion fun,” she said.
Unlike traditional Fashion Weeks, Crystal Couture featured a non-stop rectangular runway, as well as a “high-end trunk sale” where local boutiques and larger retailers were able to sell their products at discounted prices. This event, which was held over five days from 6-10 p.m. every night, just two weeks before D.C. Fashion Week.
Events like Crystal Couture are helping to market The District as a more fashionable city. As the region continues to grow and expand, more people are moving here for things other than politics and business.
“I think it sort of a natural progression as the city evolves away from politics. The food scene is really growing, the art scene is growing and all of these things are growing together to give us a fuller city,” said Philippa Hughes, a emcee at Crystal Couture and chief creative contrarian at the Pink Line Project. “All of these things are working hand-in-hand to give us a better city. It’s more attractive to people. It offers more than just a Capitol Hill job,” she said.
In its fifth year, Crystal Couture was held in a vacant office building that featured a 400 foot wraparound runway that highlighted the top floor windows of the office building in downtown Crystal City. This continues a tradition of the Crystal City BID showcasing unique, empty spaces according to Fox.
“The DC area has such talented local creatives,” said Kate Michael, a host of Crystal Couture. “I love seeing their visions come alive on the runway. And this year, that runway was over 400 feet, circling the entire floor of the building. How cool is that?,” she said.
While models were showing off the latest fashions, makeup and hair, makeovers were being done by local organizations such as the Paul Mitchell The School Tyson’s Corner and Makeup by Mauridi. The majority of the retailers at the event hailed from the metro area. So the fashion was tailored to the needs of locals.
“The kinds of dresses we were seeing and the ones that caught my eye were the ones that embrace the fact that we do live in a place where you can’t just go super crazy with fashion,” said Hughes. “The designs added creativity to something you could still wear to work and feel comfortable,” she said.
Compared to previous years, this year’s Crystal Couture stood out for its large space and runway that models walked continually for the full four hours, with five minute breaks in between different shows. Fox says the event has grown considerably, and that more than 4,000 people attending the event this year.
In addition to the various designers, the fashion event was hosted by local personalities such as Karen Sommer Shalett of D.C. Magazine, former Miss D.C. Kate Michael and Hughes, who has hosted the event for three years now.
As the district’s fashion scene continues to grow the event will too, says Fox, who added that even after the event ended Saturday the Crystal City BID began talking about plans for next year.
“Part of the job of the BID is to transform way people think about Crystal City area and showcase the market for new retailers, and show how easy it is for people to get here,” said Fox. “People can walk away from the event and think ‘Wow that was really cool, I wonder what else they do,’” she said.
Kendal Gapinski
Advanced Reporting
Kendal (Gapinski) Kloiber 