Sale prices are as marked. Enjoy!

The grant period is July 1, 2010 until June 30 , 2011. Fritsch will begin sharing the fruits of the project with the community in March of 2011.

Fritsch’s project:

Transformation  is an exploration of altering the human silhouette through sculpture on the body.  I will be constructing a line of garments that color outside the lines of the human form: bold, textural, possibly even bizarre…a more theatrical look at fashion.

Silver and Lavender silk set, Sweet Revenge Lingerie. Photo by Polina Osherov.

I’m very pleased to announce the founding of a group called Indianapolis Fashion Collective. The group is brand-spanking new, having just received its name this past week. I’m raising a glass of iced coffee to thank the founding members who have been and will continue to be passionate enough about fashion in Indianapolis to grow this group.

Let me tell you how it began, and where we’re headed.

One of the founding forces in Indianapolis is Midwest Fashion week, and the creative mind behind that happens to be Berny Martin of Catou. Martin has great hopes for Indianapolis’ fashion scene, and has worked hard over the past several years to create a name for MWFW. Each year the show grows in attendance and events. Yes, it has had some growing pains, but all in all MWFW has been a spur that pushed local designers to move further ahead.

This past March, one of the events that Martin assembled was the Fashion Incubator, arranged in coordination with the IndyFringe. Pauline Moffat (Executive Director) and Jill Ditmire (Vice President) acted as host and mediator to a panel of speakers, who addressed topics such as funding for emerging designers, work spaces, how to keep talent in the area, and creation of a fashion district. The event was attended by students, teachers, designers, photographers and journalists.

I felt the event was a great beginning, but my fear was there would be absolutely no follow-up. My fear was unfounded. A core group of people become very interested in pursuing the idea, and Ditmire took on the task of corralling us together to meet again and make serious plans. After a few meetings (and a bit of wine supplied by Mass Ave Wine Shop), we have a solid mission and a list of action items…and progress.

Our Mission:

Unite, Empower, Showcase and Grow the Indianapolis area fashion industry through collaboration, education and awareness.

Goals:

-Web presence
-Destination/Tourism
-Marketing/Events
-Mentoring/Funding
-Manufacturing/sourcing
-Partnerships

Along with making the group official (and addressing the needs of creating a not-for-profit status), the top two goals that we have been tackling are creating a web presence, and finding the ideal area to start a fashion district.

I should mention here that other city groups are working closely with Indianapolis Fashion Collective, and we value their collaboration highly. IFC needs to have a professional, unbiased eye that only a city-sponsored not-for-profit can have. Susan Brasco (head of Motorsports and Fashion for Develop Indy), Pauline Moffat and Jill Ditmire of IndyFringe, Tamara Zahn (President of Indianapolis Downtown, Inc.), Berny Martin (Midwest Fashion Week) and newly Tammi Hughes (Executive Director of East 10th Street Civic Association) will all be connecting with the group in various ways. What continues to surprise me is not just how many people are interested in supporting the fashion industry, but the fact that we have all been working separately to achieve the same goals.

Hence: Unite. IFC doesn’t need to achieve all of its goals on its own, but we wants to support the building of the infrastructure that the industry needs to blossom.

Stay Tuned:

Keep an eye out for news from the Indianapolis Fashion Collective. We’re working on developing a website that will be a hub for the industry in the Indianapolis area. Some features of the website will be a comprehensive directory of industry members (designers, sales reps, photographers, to name a few categories), a forum for local industry discussions, an interactive calendar of fashion related events, and links to resources in the area.

If you are interested to hear more about the website, or wish to contribute services to the IFC, please .

Street view of Studio 714. Image by Jetta V of Trash Rags.

Sweet Revenge is pleased to be part of the opening of Studio 714 in Brookville, IN (714 E. Main Street). The owner, Kimberly Meadows, is a photographer by trade, but has a great interest in design. As part of her business, she works with local designers, models and stylists.

Finding the perfect commercial space led to her decision to combine her interests in a retail store and photography studio. Kim also intends to offer classes in her roomy historic storefront.
Why Brookville? Kim hails from Brookville, which boasts a great vacation lake and camping area. It’s no metropolis, but as we stood outside trying to get back to our car, we watched in disbelief at the traffic that goes up and down Main Street. The area reminds me a bit of Noblesville, where I have my studio and home base of operations. The Main Street is renovated historic buildings (probably 1880-90s), and businesses which range from hair salons to diners, retail stores and offices.

Studio 714 opens today, and will take advantage of the Chamber of Commerce’s “Main Street After Hours.” The after hours celebrations include live music, and the local establishments stay open later so that pedestrians can peruse the shops.

SR merchandise hangin' out. Image by Jetta V of Trash Rags.

There’s a style show at 5pm, and the hours today at 10 am to 11 pm–what a long day! As you can see, the products range from paintings and framed photographs  to hand made jewelry, printed t-shirts, sleepwear, handbags, scarves…eye candy.

Many thanks to Jetta V of Trash Rags for the images–Kim was still heavily in renovation mode when we visited. It’s great to see things shaping up.

Jetta Vegas has a blog at http://jettavegas.wordpress.com.

Sweet Revenge is showing some fantasy lingerie pieces at the Fashion Expo runway show, as well as hosting a vendor table. Murphy Arts Center (1043 Virginia Avenue, Indianapolis, IN).

Admission: $7.00 at the door, $5.00 with donation to Goodwill

Program:
6pm:
Manufacture and Fabric Industry 101, guest speaker Jay Arbetman
Fashion Model 101, guest speaker Pilar Ammons
Children’s fashion show
Performance by Mojo Gumbo
8pm:
TNT Concert
Featuring local bands Last good year, Lynda Sayyah, Mojestic and more
Stop the violence campaign: Young Verge, Dwani
Honor and award to the stop the violence campaign Mr.  Anthony Beverly

Flirtini print capri pants

The trees are in full bloom, so beautiful and smelling sweet!

Why not treat yourself to a nightgown or pajamas with a cherry blossom print to herald warmer weather? The Flirtini print in dark pink, brown and green on white  is as fresh and optimistic as spring. The 100% cotton lawn fabric is soft, slightly sheer and will be cool and comfortable once we get into those hot and humid days of summer.

The shirred cup and ruffle detail at the hem are feminine and youthful, yet the slight sheerness of the fabric makes it a bit saucy, too.

Elissa wearing B Trousseau top, Cheeky Couture jewels and Emilliner hat

Whew! Midwest Fashion Week just ended and not a moment too soon! Running out of steam and feeling the need to get back into the real world of work. Meanwhile I just wanted to say a little about the experience of creating the Cabaret Lingerie show, which I feel did exactly what I had hoped it to do: make people sit up and take notice, and question what makes fashion.

Integral to the show was Nikki Sutton, a stylist and interior designer (and often a model herself). She came to the project in midstream, and took the torch and ran, ran, ran with it. (Totally mixed metaphors, there.)

Our concept: take a number of local resources (including Sweet Revenge Lingerie one-offs) and combine them to create a fantasy look, lingerie but much more: Cabaret Lingerie. Showy, over the top, high fashion. The result was beyond my expectations! Sutton came up with a story by which to arrange the show, the progression of love. First we saw the angelic looks (though they were far from tame), in whites, cream, pink touches. Then as love blossoms, so does the color…in spring greens, corals, pinks, aqua. And finally, as love turns, the colors darken into browns, blacks and the accessories become more aggressive. Almost every look was accompanied by a sculptural hat by Emilliner (a local hat designer), and Cheeky Couture jewelry.

Michelle wearing SR bustier, Nikki Blaine shorts, Emilliner hat

To balance the stylized look of the show, we staged the fashion show a little differently as well. The models were paced much more slowly, and encouraged to engage the audience as well as the male model who spent much of the time onstage as a foil to the ladies. Actor Rob Johansen worked with the models to create an improvised scene at the end of the show, in place of a Designer Walk.  The models fought for the male model’s attention, and then descended on him like a flock of ravens (in their blacks, complete with a few feathers) for a dramatic end to the show.

Many thanks to everyone who helped to make the show a success–all told I believe there were as many as thirty people involved just on the day of the show, for a twenty minute show. Pictures shown courtesy of Mariah at Nuvo.

Credits:

• Nikki Sutton- stylist
• Beth Bennett of B Trousseau Couture-corsets, lingerie
• Nikki Blaine Couture-corset, lingerie
• IndySwank boutique-vintage
• Cheeky Couture-jewelry
• Sweet Revenge Lingerie-corsets, lingerie
• Emily Clark for Emilliner-hats
• Kelly Oswalt of Red Carpet Reflection-makeup
• Julia Rutland of Aesthetic Design Style-makeup
• Roy Jones of Mary & Friends-hair styling
• LModelz- casting
• Rob Johansen-choreography
  

  Finale shot by Ramon Guajardo

Candace wearing Cheeky Couture jewels

Mollie wearing B Trousseau corset, Emilliner hat, Japanese kimono

Printed velvet corset with vintage chemise.

As part of Midwest Fashion Week’s March events, Sweet Revenge will contribute to a short fashion show preceding a showing of the one woman play, Jamaica, Farewell. We’ve decided to do an unpredictable melding of lingerie, vintage and costume pieces in an effort to kick up our heels for spring. Corsets? Check. Dressing gowns? Check. Feathers? Naturally. Silks, lace, tiaras…this isn’t about reality, it’s about fantasy. Come indulge!

Watch a preview of the show aired on Indy Style (March 15th): three models show off some pieces for the fashion show. Sweet Revenge Lingerie designer, Catherine Fritsch, talks to the hosts about her line.

Cabaret Lingerie will be at the IndyFringe Theatre, $30 admission for the fashion show and play. See Events page for more information.

Put gift wrap in your cart...

We’re extending the gift wrap offer, but you need to let us know you’d like to have it! Put it in your cart! (See Gift Wrap page for details, link at left.)

If it’s for you…hey, spoil yourself. I want you to have it. Who else is going to do something nice for you, really?

Printed velvet corset

We had a great open house on February 4th, so I thought I would share some images! I decided to celebrate Valentine’s Day with a few corset looks. Pictured at left is a gorgeous corset made of deep purple velvet printed with gold, mixed with a purple and black ottoman fabric. It is fully boned and laces up the back; great with or without the vintage corset cover and petticoat (pictured).

Below is a bustier look in black and white print cotton. The bustier laces up the back for an adjustable fit, and has a zipper front closure. Fur pompoms on the zipper pull add a touch of whimsy. I’m mixing and matching polka dots and stripes for dizzy textural effect! The skirt is a lawn circle skirt with a double row of ruffles, caught up at the side a la burlesque dancers…the mini petticoat adds the final touch.

Corsets are a great way to enhance your figure–they can be worn as lingerie or as a fun touch to evening wear.

Printed cotton bustier