{{midwest}} Minneapolis: SCENEaSOTA- A Minnesota-Grown Fashion Show

Minnesota’s Fall Fashion Week is almost upon us and one of the events that I am most looking forward to is the return of SCENEaSOTA. In now its sophomore year, the already acclaimed show features the collections of established and emerging Twin Cities designers. Started by Maritza Ramirez in 2008, a local designer herself, SCENEaSOTAwas established to showcase local design talent from a back-of-the house point of view. Taking on the role of both presenter and producer last year, Ramirez has stepped back from her design role this season to focus on amping up the wattage of her infamous fall fete.
The show is set to take place on September 26^th at the new Ignite Model’s Studio in Minneapolis and will feature the runway debut of: Emma Berg, Kathryn Sterner, and Ashley Busch, as well as, new fall designs by alums, Renate Adjei, Carmichael Claith, and Jenny Carle.  The collections you’ll be drooling over on the runway will be available for purchase at Cliché the following day, along with the pop-up shop set up at the show. Visit www.myspace.com/sceneasota more details.
Here is a rundown on two emerging designers to keep your eye on at the show:
Ashley Busch
A bright up-and-comer who focusing on refined and chic designs with vintage-inspired details. Busch is a recent graduate of the design program at the College of Saint Catherine, where her senior pieces generated quite a buzz in the local fashion scene. The collection also caught the eye of Ramirez, who as a result, asked her to participate in SCENEaSOTA.
Busch’s namesake collection “Raefiftyeight,†is based around not only her middle name, but also holds meaning in what was for her, a memorable month of May. She can add to her list of recent achievements her new collection, which includes wearable separates with 70’s silhouettes, and fantastic details such as lace, buttons, and zippers.
Emma Berg
A great deal of excitement in Minneapolis is centered on local fashion plate- Emma Berg’s debut collection. Berg is a curator at the Gallery at Fox Tax, whom also dabbles in fashion production, and combines her background in costume design and her interest in film for her foray into design at SCENEaSOTA. Berg who has been sewing since she was a child, had been focusing on her curating and other various art forms, but had decided to return to clothing construction after a recent trip to India.
The inspiration for her latest collection was in imagery from the 2002 Japanese film “Dolls,” as well as the idea of walking the line between the avant garde and the wearable, and the sense of beauty that can be found in the restraint of the creative process. With her collection you can expect lush fabrics such as satin, silk, and brocade, and a color pallet of white, black, and gold with red accents- representative of a symbolic red rope from the film. If her designs are anything like the ones I have seen her sport around town in the past, than Minneapolis is in for a real treat.
Photographs by Stephanie Hynes, photos listed clockwise top left: designs from Emma Berg, Renate Adjei, Kathryn Sterner, Ashley Busch, Carmichael Claith, and Jenny Carle. Styling courtesy of Hautepants and Jane Magnitude.