SLIDESHOW: SAM MENDOZA RUNWAY SHOW
Sam Mendoza has the potential to be the next Esteban Cortazar or Zac Posen. Really. I can remember attending one of Cortazar’s first shows a few years back. The crowd was packed with NYC socialites and Naomi Campbell was in the show — but the clothing was just so-so and not properly finished. It looked hand-done in an “I’m being crafty in my basement” sort of way. Cortazar has since learned about finishing and quality and is now the designer charged with the task of breathing new life into the house of Ungaro. It’s all very impressive.
I’m retelling this little tale because I see the same creative genius in the young Sam Mendoza. His show last night was the talk of the town, and anyone who’s anyone in the industry was there — and then some. After a cocktail party on the fifth floor of the Liberty Hotel, guests made their way downstairs to the main ballroom. I found my seat and took a look around at the wine-sipping crowd, some buzzed and all very anxious — there was just so much hype surrounding the fall/winter debut of Boston’s darling young designer. Sitting nearby were Boston Common’s Anna Levitan and our very own Mike Diskin, who were quickly becoming front-row runway buddies; Rachel Baker and Max Buccini, who were on the show’s event committee; FB’s Alex Hall, wearing a fierce vintage (I can use the word vintage when referring to the ’90s, right?) Dolce suit; PR maven Kerry Landry in a sexy-not-trashy little black number with a lace-up back that exposed her bra — H-O-T; Red Sox gal pals Kelli Pedroia and Tiffany Ortiz; and the list goes on and on. Bravo, Sam, to you and your mentor and employer, Stil’s Betty Riaz, for gathering such a crowd.
Inspired by Sam’s trip to India where he visited his college roommate’s family (who were seated in the front row at the Liberty), the show itself was pretty fantastic. The models, made up of BU buddies and Dynasty models, “worked it” well. The hair, done by the I Soci team, was perfect in a messy-meets-luxury-meets-hot-and-smelly- streets-of-India sort of way. And the makeup, by Shu Uemura, also fit the glam-gal-walking-the-streets-of-Bombay bill: the models’ muted lips gave dark and smoky feather-fluttering eyes the spotlight.
Sam’s brother David and his fellow-RISD-student friend created ankle bracelets made of beads and bells to accompany the looks (and almost cause a major runway accident; Lisa Baker and I came to the rescue, brushing remnants of a broken ankle bracelet off the runway), and Luna Boston provided slightly-too-geometric-looking shoes for the affair.
And then came the clothes. I cannot stress enough what a creative genius this kid is. But — and I know you could feel the but coming — he needs to unleash his full potential by going to New York, Paris, or Milan to work for and learn from one of the great fashion masters. And I think he might secretly know it, too.
The looks were interesting, and some were pretty unique, but they just weren’t perfectly finished, and I couldn’t actually see go into production and be sold at stores. Not to mention the fact that the entire collection had a spring/summer — not fall/winter — feel to it.
The first two looks (blue and yellow sashed mini-dresses) were forgettable. Then came some bright colors and streets-of-Bombay-meets-structured looks that I really liked, especially one dress in particular, with a white/crème-ish top, thin silk brown belt/bow, and pink-and-white-striped pleated bottom. For those of you who don’t know anything about sewing, inverted pleating is hard to do, and this was really well-done and very well-finished.
One of my favorite parts of the show was a very public salute to Sam’s mother in the front row, who flew here from Houston to cheer her son on. That not only showed class, but also an appreciation for family and roots.
Note to Sam: your humble nature, paired with your innate ability to see all of the colors our world has to offer, is what is going to make you a great designer — and if properly trained, potentially one of the greatest designers to come out of this city.
Esteban who?
— Erica Corsano
