Oakland Renaissance: Saint Maurice Fashion Show
West Oakland Matters
7th West
1255 7th St, Oakland
July 27, 2024
Local art matters, and so do your neighbors.
Produced in “The New West” (West Oakland), Saint Maurice Clothing was a natural fit for this past Saturday’s “West Oakland Matters,” a community art event showcasing local visual arts, film, photojournalism, and fashion. Organizers included photographer Malcolm Ryder, curator and artist TC Moore, and Jeanette De Mello of adorable 7th St vintage shop Serial Material, and the event was held both indoors and out at 7th West.
Showcasing the brand’s latest pieces, the Tapestry Collection, “inspired by the 15th-century German tapestry ‘The Wild Men and The Moors: Siege of the Castle of Love,’ ” Saint Maurice brought the fun back to fashion: The models sashayed and swept the humble catwalk with grace and more than a bit of silliness, egged on by attendees.
A mix of street and traditional styles, the garments are a mix of modern fabrics and silhouettes paired with thoughtful nods to history. Richly patterned fabrics are interspersed with soothing neutrals. Prints sometimes used whole on skirts or bomber jackets, other times as one-to-three inch-wide strips of trim, are transformed across the collection to great effect.
The “collection seamlessly marries this historical artwork’s intricate designs and rich narratives with modern comfort and style,” and showcases part of the hundreds of years of silenced histories of people of color the world round, the designer shared, prior to beginning the show.
Surprisingly affordable for local fashion, the garments range from $45 for simple tops and leggings to $186 for the most intricate bomber. Club-ready minidresses followed crinoline-puffed skirts (hats and said crinolines provided by Serial Material). Bomberd and hats were draped and dropped, purses swung akimbo. With personalities and prints this bold, it only makes sense to marry the two, each bit of extra elevating the next.
Each model brought their own spice to the strut, some pouty and somber, others whole hams for the cams; never stop, we love you for it, thank you. Fashion, and art, so often take themselves far too seriously, and I greatly appreciate how far The Town tends to stray from that cliche: if you know you got it goin’ on, why not have a little fun with it too?
The almost-night was nothing if not full of love and support. The models’ ease was clear, their comfort in the clothing and themselves a pleasure to watch, and the whole audience remained rapt for those 15 action-packed minutes, adoring faces all around. We were given 10 looks, at least one early-career Chris Brown song (I have some questions), and a lot of heart. The crowd, interactive and so supportive, were themselves dressed up and in good cheer despite the gloomy pre-Fogust weather. The friends, neighbors, collaborators, and family bolstered the mood of the makeshift catwalk, calling out, dapping up, and cheering for the entirety of the show.
Did it begin on time? No. Was the weather nice? Also no. But was it an evening of collective joy and celebration, of community and art, of love and mutual appreciation? Abso-fucking-lutely. The air, warmed by that joy and love (and a few standing heat lamps), held its people close.
