LoveSick II: Too Sick to Love...A Fashion Story

on the runway at Dekker/Muse Studios



You know what the songs say, that the scent of love is in the air. The fragrance of ardor comes in a variety of bouquets, among them the tang of infatuation, the musk of lust, and the lingering trace of intoxicating, Dionysian desire. If that's the case, then the spare, white studio space at 224 6th Street was converted into a veritable perfumery on Saturday night.

Local designers Alexandria von Bromssen, Amy Fink, and Simeon Dacumos assembled an assortment of intimate silhouettes with illusions of boudoir for "Lovesick II," a runway and trunk show featuring lingerie and lounge attire of varying lengths and sheerness.

More than 200 guests and patrons seemed perfectly content to stand elbow to elbow around the slender runway and catch a glimpse of the lacy bodices and satin body wraps parading before them.

The looks on the runway revealed themselves (so to speak) as a cross between some of Agent Provocateur's purposeful lapses in subtlety and some of La Perla's more refined (read: tasteful) lingerie pieces. The designers, photographers, and creatives involved, who refer to themselves as San Francisco's DOGMA Collective, produced a scintillating program that reminded us of the true purpose of Valentine's Day: Sex.

Simeon Dacumos presented dual lines of intimates: "Ape’ritif" and "Tushe." The former is a luxury line, inspired by the “Lost Generation,” constructed of French lace, Italian trims, and his own patented underwire innovations. The latter is a more pocketbook-friendly counterpart that suggested slink as much as it did sleek. I was most taken by Dacumos's deep infatuation with the female form. His previous career was at a gym in The City, so he certainly had time to speculate and study. He sent out a couple showgirl numbers, but also a selection of sensual, feminine garments that had both men and women in the crowd ogling for all the right reasons.

"That one's really pretty," my companion, herself a tasteful young woman, noted. That's the endorsement any intimates designer needs. The looks have to be desirable to women even more so than men. If YOU don't feel sexy wearing your own clothes, what's the point?

In the Middle Ages, members of the European nobility began to wear straightforward linen clothes under richly decorated and expensive outer dresses. This both protected these luxurious costumes from dirty bodies, and provided a layer of warmth for the wearer. That was then; this is now. By the 1980s, avant-garde designers like Vivienne Westwood and Jean Paul Gaultier introduced British punk-chic and burlesque nouveau to tart up the tone. (Just recall Madonna's cone bra to get my drift.)

Alexandria von Bromssen brought punky street fashion sensibilities to her "Hide & Seek" line of lingerie, and still gave a generous nod to the Old World originals. This meant slip dresses, lace camisoles, and classically satin panties. But this also meant rock and roll corsets and gentle draping (like the curtains of a peepshow) that implied, "look-but-don't-touch." A touch of wit went a long way in this overwhelmingly voluptuous collection.

She displayed elegant, swimsuit-like designs that sculpted the body, and a latticework of lacy strips that created symmetrical V-shapes without appearing corsetlike or like a straitjacket made from a kimono. She even dished out a few male looks (which basically consisted of well-tailored, polka-dotted and striped, silk and satin pajama pants).

The proceedings were housed in the Dekker gallery, which local photogs Beth Berman and Laura Kudritzki recently opened. Here's hoping they'll host more events like this one. They do it well. We traded and nibbled on candy hearts and got serenaded by easy-breezy folk-pop band The Goldenhearts (featuring former 4 Non Blonde Roger Rocha as front man).

The trunk show featured clothes and accessories by Amy Fink (sculptural, Japanese fashion-influenced lines), Fluidance Jewelry (graceful, earthy pendants and elemental embellishments) , Jasmin Zorlu Millinery (whisper thin- and flamboyant hats that rival Aretha Franklin's inaugural crown), and Kaatje Designs (necklaces made of colorful, delicate crags). The event raised money for the Riley Center, a San Francisco domestic violence shelter.

"Lovesick II" was a hungry, carnal evening devised to remind us that although the heart is the engine of passion, it is the libido that gives it fuel. It was naughty. It was nice.