The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego in La Jolla will host San Diego Design Week's first fashion and costume design track on Thursday, Sept. 17. The six-day event runs Tuesday, Sept. 15, through Sunday, Sept. 20, with about 75 tours, talks, workshops and showcases countywide.
The fashion day at MCASD, 700 Prospect St., will feature exhibits by local designers and students from Palomar College and Mesa College rather than a traditional runway show, Times of San Diego reported. Olga Cecilia Sanchez, a Design Forward Alliance board member and the designer behind the label Eclectique Mode, organized the new track.
"We want to be able to showcase the designer or the students, and they can talk about their work and inspiration behind it," Sanchez told Times of San Diego.
The Thursday lineup also includes discussions on designer Isaac Mizrahi, a preview of an unreleased documentary about English fashion designer Zandra Rhodes and a Dazzle Lab where attendees can bring blank items to decorate with rhinestones and stencils.
Beyond MCASD, the fashion track offers free tours of the La Jolla Playhouse costume department at 2910 La Jolla Village Drive. Exact tour times were not listed in available materials; check sddesignweek.org for the full schedule.
Sanchez also arranged a rare, ticketed tour of the San Diego History Center's clothing archive in Balboa Park. The collection holds more than 77,000 items, including pieces from Zandra Rhodes and Bob Mackie. It is normally closed to visitors.
The nonprofit Design Forward Alliance organizes Design Week, now in its sixth year. Eric Weiss, the alliance's president, told Times of San Diego that typical attendance reaches about 7,000 people over the course of the week.
On Saturday, Sept. 19, The Guild hotel downtown and JFiN Collective host "The Art of Design," an evening reception and exhibition. Jennifer Findley, a San Diego native who founded JFiN Collective and serves as art consultant for Oram Hotels, organized the event inside the former Army-Navy YMCA building.
Most Design Week events are free. A full schedule and registration details are available at sddesignweek.org.
La Jolla Design Week calendar
- Thursday, Sept. 17 — Fashion track at MCASD, 700 Prospect St.: designer exhibits, Isaac Mizrahi discussion, Zandra Rhodes documentary preview, Dazzle Lab
- During the week — Free La Jolla Playhouse costume department tours, 2910 La Jolla Village Drive (check sddesignweek.org for times)
- Saturday, Sept. 19 — "The Art of Design" evening reception at The Guild hotel, downtown San Diego
