Chinos & Cheesecake: Highlights from Saturday Night's Emerging Designers Party

This past Saturday I was invited to an event introducing a new batch of semifinalists that will be competing during Charleston Fashion Week this coming March. The Memorial Waterfront Park in Mount Pleasant provided a beautiful backdrop for the event and Jim 'N Nick's BBQ came through with an awesome spread of goodies. And naturally, the room was filled with some super style mavens. I was so inclined to put my Nikon to work and capture the standouts.

Just a smidgen of what Jim 'N Nicks had to offer on the night.

Bridal competition winner (left) Kendra Barnes and blogger & model coach assistant (right) Venita Aspen

Semi-Finalists (in blue dress) Terese Brown

Semi-Finalists (from left to right) Angela Bacskocky, Model, Kaitlyn Machos, and Zachary Howell

I caught up with Angela, Kaitlyn, and Zachary to ask a few questions.

Chinos & Cheesecake: What are you most excited about getting to present at Charleston Fashion Week?

Angela Bacskocky: This is my 4th collection and I've wanted to show at Charleston fashion week since I first started my design line. I think this is a really unique and relevant show that has launched some great designers and I want to be a part of that. My highly conceptual clothing is going to be awesome on the Charleston runway!

C&C: What was the inspiration for your collection?

Kaitlyn Machos: Exposed is a collection that was initially inspired by shattered glass and the way it cracks. A year ago my car was broken into and they completely shattered the glass of my car. Not only did the glass break into several beautiful shapes, colors, and reflections; but also it gave me a life realization. As I worked on the collection and talked with others, the meaning developed into something more personal. This collection was going to be a way to express my emotions about all the bad things and the people I have lost involving shattered glass.

Before, I just found beauty in the shattered glass in the colors and shapes, but I found the beauty in the story that these cracks would tell. Ever since I was little everything bad that has happened in my life has involved shattered glass and the deaths of 22 of my closest friends in car accidents since my sophomore year of high school. Since I didn't expect any of these moments to happen, they did ... thus my inspiration found me. But the collection is not meant to be dark, it meant to take those lost moments and make them beautiful. It is meant to celebrate the life of the ones who I have lost and to possibly have emotional closure.

While thinking about all of these factors, I finally realized I was trying to expose myself. Trying to expose my vulnerability; to shed the armor of emotions I have been hiding behind for years; to finally reveal the emotional secrets that I have kept hidden for so long. Thus my journey for self-revelation and healing began.

C&C: Why do you want to be a designer?

Zachary Howell: I have a passion for dressing women who are not afraid of the people around them that cling to the social norms. One day my hopes are to be walking down the street and see a woman wearing one of my pieces and being filled with joy on the inside.

Semi-Finalists Deanna Ansara

Last year's emerging designer competition winner Alfriye Poku and me.

Alfriye and I had a lengthy conversation about his upcoming collection but I'm sworn to secrecy about the details. All I can say is, this guy has me beyond excited in anticipation for what he's planning on sending down the runway in two months.