Like her former boss, the legendary Betsey Johnson, San Antonio designer Blanquita Sullivan hopes to rule her own fashion empire.
But for now, the 36-year-old mother of three young girls is elated to be the Alamo City's top emerging designer.
Sullivan, who worked as Johnson's merchandising director and today is a visual manager for the Anthropologie store at The Shops at La Cantera, won that honor and a prize of $1,500 from the city's Department for Culture & Creative Development last week for her lovely and romantic collection of floral-print petticoat dresses.
Her work, along with that of competitors Josué Pacheco, Karen Paola Gallardo and Valerie J. Perez, took center stage — make that runway — at Fashion Week San Antonio's Current Collections, a premiere showcase for local designers.
Inside a stark white setting at the Texas A&M-San Antonio Educational & Cultural Center, models in a variety of spring 2014 garments — 12 looks from each designer — took to the concrete catwalk in a show that drew more than 200 guests, many of them snapping photos with their smartphones and iPads.
Guests enjoyed the 90-minute show as a trio of judges — S.A.'s Marisol Deluna who designs in New York, local designer Samantha Placencia and trend forecaster Burgundy Woods — reviewed the collections and later named Sullivan victorious with her “Secret Garden” collection.
Sullivan's inspiration was the many stories her grandmother read to her as a child, she said, while holding a congratulatory bouquet of flowers from her daughters and husband Mike. Her mother, well-known radio personality, Blanquita Cullum, who lives and works in Washington, D.C., declared her daughter “killed it!”
Sullivan, indeed, presented a strong and cohesive collection of dresses, some in a colorful mash-up of garden and bird prints combined with stripes and tribal motifs — and all worn with vintage petticoats she collected through the years. Garden flowers adorned hairstyles and keys on necklaces.
The collection also was unified with her choice of gorgeous upholstery cottons printed in flora and fauna. She mixed in plaid taffeta, more mini-floral prints in spring hues and took risks such as a dress in a red rose print dress with black-and-white striped sleeves. Another winning look was a belted top in a mustard print of branches and birds teamed with a tribal print skirt.
“She mixed punk with girlie, and it worked,” Deluna said. “What I personally liked about her collection was that I could envision it as a brand. The dresses were happy, free and easy. The fabrics were unique, and the construction was impeccable.”
It also was exciting to see wearable, sellable garments — as opposed to artsy interpretations that often overshadow many a fashion show — all of which can be purchased online at Sullivan's website, www.Bon jourBiqui.com.
“I feel so wonderful and am thrilled,” Sullivan said. “I'm trying to create a wholesale business for my line, and the money is going to help support that.”
Ultimately, Sullivan wants to own a manufacturing facility in San Antonio and employ seamstresses. “I want to sustain what I'm doing and do it in San Antonio,” she said.
Perez, 28, who has a bachelor's in fashion design and merchandising from the International Academy of Design and Technology, sent out a mostly silk chiffon collection of ladylike knee-length skirts, some in muted colors, others in bold hues.
Her collection, “Holi en Fleur” was inspired by the vibrant colors of the Hindu festival of Holi that signifies the start of spring, marked by the pigments of local flora Perez incorporated into her work with a color palette of red, orange, blue and pink.
But it was her lightweight sweaters with glass bead accents and beautifully rolled necks and hemlines that stole the show and should have had every woman in the audience coveting them.
Yes, they were that good.
Gallardo, 20, a student at The Art Institute of San Antonio, gave it her best with her “Fresh Spring” collection she declared was for the “strong and confident woman.”
She worked with embroidered mesh, chiffon and lambskin leather to create many sportswear separates that included a yellow bodysuit worn under see-through mesh pants, a floral and black leather dress embellished with side fringe and a color-blocked red and purple dress with embellished side peplums. Her variety of separates was commendable, but several deserved a better fit.
Pacheco, 39, a full-time IADT instructor, called his collection “Beautiful God.” His influences were the simple designs of Egyptian and American Indian cultures in a collection rich in textiles and a neutral palette from beige to white.
His silhouettes were daring, such as a floor-length white dress that looked ladylike appropriate until the model walked away revealing an embroidered sheer back panel — no doubt for shock effect — with panties showing through.
Later, Pacheco confessed his collection was different from anything he had ever done before.
“My aesthetic has always been upscale and classy. But with this collection I wanted it to be more inspirational, almost Mediterranean and that meant being streamlined,” he said. “I pushed myself and made it work.”
mquintanilla@express- news.net
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