Downtown
May 8, 2011

View from the street at last year’s Graphic Fashion event

In a week of fashion events hosted by Cincinnati Fashion Week, it is hard to say which one tops the list. However, after speaking with Mara McCormick (Client Manager and Special Projects) at Landor Associates, I am teething with excitement for this graphic fashion event on Thursday, May 12th.

1.) Tell me a little bit about the background of Landor Associates and how it’s become involved with fashion week:

McCormick: Landor Associates is one of the world’s leading strategic brand consulting and design firms. Walter Landor, our founder, knew how to throw a great party. In 1964, he moved our firm to a ferryboat, the Klamath, anchored at San Francisco’s Pier 5. For visiting dignitaries, business people, and stars, a trip to the city wasn’t complete without an invitation to the Klamath. Parties aboard the ferry were legendary with guests like the Rolling Stones and the Grateful Dead who came aboard to join in the celebrations. His spirit is alive and well this month as we gear up for our upcoming show, “Graphic Fashion,” as it was last year when we put on “Inspired by Anne.”

Landor Associates’ current office space was once Shillito’s Department Store, the iconic Cincinnati retailer, so our connection to local retail runs deep. We had long wanted to activate our building’s large retail windows as a means of inspiring our employees and engaging the community. Then, we met a woman named Anne Wainscott who worked as a fashion illustrator in our building for nearly fifty years from about 1930 to 1970. We were inspired by her work and knew others would be, too, so we decided to create an art exhibition that would celebrate Anne and inspire our creative teams. Opening night of “Inspired by Anne” was an official event of Cincinnati’s first ever Fashion Week. Over 500 people attended that evening and thousands more visited over the course of the multi-week show. On July 16, 2011, the “Inspired by Anne” show opens as an exhibit at the Cincinnati Museum Center.

“Inspired by Anne” exhibit

2.) The event brief is described as: Global branding & design firm Landor Associates Cincinnati will host Graphic Fashion, an evening exhibition of fashion as seen through the windows that once housed the Shillito Department Store. Can you please elaborate on what we can expect…

McCormick: We’ll have a graphic runway that spans Shillito Alley, digital and media projections, live music, and a newly activated Race Street window display. Guests will have the opportunity to comment on the night’s events through live social media displays as well as to use their own bodies as a canvas for graphic design and expression. But, as with past Landor events, guests should come expecting the unexpected.

3.) In your experience and expertise how would you as say graphic design inspires fashion and vice versa; additionally, how does this relate to current trends we are seeing in the fashion world?

McCormick: We are in the business of creating brand experiences, and we will stop at nothing to make those experiences both memorable and meaningful. We know that the right shade of orange can make or break a brand, a perfect texture can take a package from average to premium, the right imagery can help people instantly connect and identify with a product. We often look to fashion, among other things, for insight and inspiration. Fashion brings us trendy colors, dynamic patterns, organic textures and so much more – all of which can be used to bring our brands to life. In the same way, graphic design informs culture and serves as inspiration for fashion designers around the world.

– Please note, this is a ticketed event.
HOURS: Doors will open at 7 p.m. The unveiling of the windows on Race Street will take place at 8:30 p.m.
TICKETS: Tickets for this event are $10. To purchase tickets please go to www.cincinnatifashionweek.com.

| | |