On the fashion map: The US Deep South
With NOLA Fashion Council (NOLAFC) serving as a platform for Southern based and born designers, noted as “the driving force behind the growth of the Fashion Industry of New Orleans” - coupled with competitive fashion festivals battling it out for media attention in the crescent city - as well as fashion weeks now in Nashville and Charleston, the Deep South is well and truly gaining momentum and establishing its position on the fashion map.
Boasting a homegrown style, designers emphasise on keeping things in the town, collaborating with local pattern markers, sewers and illustrators, to reflect the intrinsically creative Southern spirit. The Deep South trends with hand craft and effortlessly chic designs, with fabrics often ranging from chiffon, seersucker and tulle, to lightweight cottons and knits, designing with tropical temperatures in mind.
Embodying the Southern aesthetic, founder of NOLA Fashion Week, blogger and designer Andi Eaton, listed as one of the most stylish southerns, is owner to one our favourite boutiques in the Deep South, hazel & florange. The New Orleans “home spun, ethereal and delicately beautiful” brand is a celebration of southern charm, featuring locally crafted bohemian-style clothing, jewellery and accessories for women, with various sweet floral prints and a consistent 70s retro vibe in her designs. We also love her blog - ouiwegirl.com.
As fashion forward as the Deep South gets, also based in New Orleans is high end boutique Exodus Goods.Focusing on design and cultural aesthetics, “filled with stylish threads, bold accents and a curated selection of contemporary lifestyle “goods””, Exodus Goods combines luxury with trendy apparel, keeping in the Southern vintage theme with clean cut silhouettes in a mixture of cotton and polyester, silk tent and mesh dresses, woven maxi skirts and bold-edgy accessories.
Jumping over to Charleston, Hannah Goff, winner of Charleston Fashion Week Emerging Designer 2012 and Belk Southern Designer Showcase 2012, brings an eccentricity to the coast with her heavy eye catching textiles and emphasis on colourful collages of prints. For her accessories she follows the Southern handmade traditional detailing trend, but is prominent for her contrasting print-centric style. Her pieces have gained the attention of Time Out New York, The WildMagazine, Elle.com and Nylon Magazine.
