Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "richard hallmarq"

Drop A House Fashion Show March 13, 2010

2010-03-15T10:16:55Z

Influenced by legendary fashion houses, Drop a House introduced some up and coming talent to Sacramento’s runway Saturday night. Drop a House presented designers: Benzo Couture, Richard Hallmarq, the Vittore Brothers, and Lauren Oto. Bobby Trendy, who is best known as the late Anna Nicole Smith’s stylist, will be making a special appearance and showcasing his new line.

There was two shows as there were so many people who wanted to come to see these fantastic designers show their latest works there was not enough room in the Guild Theatre in Oak Park to allow it to all be done in one show. Each show was about 35 minutes long and had some known fashion celebrities involved. The MC of the evening was Perry Ullmann from "Make Me A Supermodel", and Ambreal Williams from America's Next Top Model walked in the show.

Richard Hallmarq not only being one of the designers he was one of the people who wanted to put a show like this together so he got some of his fellow local designers together and ended up having a real intimate show with not a bad seat in the house.

Upset at Capital Fashion Awards

2009-10-06T20:29:32Z

Leigh Grogan, a writer for the Sacramento Bee, is reporting that, "The first Capital Fashion Awards show Friday night at the Park Ultra Lounge in Sacramento gave local designers and hairstylists something to shoot for - a spot in next year's event." Yet interestingly enough, many of this years nominees are vowing to never return.

Voting procedures for the event are still unclear. One nominee for Best Fashion Photographer was confided in by two sources that the link on the online voting ballot that was supposed to go to his website and online portfolio actually went to a Bible study website. Exactly who was given the opportunity to vote is also unclear.

Richard Hallmarq (creator/planner of Capital Fashion Awards), coincidentally won in the "Best Designer" category, even though a close friend of his and fellow designer has accurately tweeted "DESIGNER OFTHE YEAR DIDNT EVEN HAVE 1 FASHION SHOW THIS YEAR!!" In fact, Hallmarq's "collection" at the awards show only boasted 4 original outfits. In addition to this, Hallmarq was the only designer given a full runthrough of his show with his models before the Capital Fashion Awards began.

The models that walked for all the designers were from Sacramento agency Cast Images, including four of the nominees in the Model of the Year category. These nominees were aware of each others' nominations, but were surprised to learn the night of the event that other models not living in the Sacramento area had been nominated as well. One model was heard as saying after a non-local was announced as the winner, "ummm, so why are we here?" These models were uncompensated for the night's event.

Local models also anticipated with excitement the chance to meet America's Next Top Model and Make Me a Supermodel winners Naima Mora, CariDee English, and Jonathan Waud. English was quoted in a Sacramento Bee article before the event as saying, "I'm looking forward to meeting the models in Sacramento to encourage them." Yet these reality TV winners were kept separate until the start of the event, and chatter confirms that "Make Me a Supermodel" winner Jonathan Waud was the only celebrity of the evening friendly enough to chatter with local participants backstage.

All in all, while the event clearly brought an evening of fun for the audience, those in the local fashion scene who participated in the show were left feeling schemed.

Whether Leigh Grogan (who has had a friendship with Hallmarq for years) or any other local newsource will pick up this underlying story is yet to be seen, but undoubtedly it will affect the show's future prospects for finding local talent in the fashion industry.

Fashion awards show brings glitz and glamour to Sac

2009-10-05T05:23:41Z

Sacramentans were given a taste of glamor and high fashion rarely seen in our city on Friday night.

The 2009 Capital Fashion Awards were held at The Park Ultra Lounge, where the nightclub was transformed into a runway showing off fall collections for Sacramento's top designers.

"There are so many other events for different genres but not any for fashion ... so we decided to do something different," said Richard Hallmarq, a local designer who coordinated the event along with six others from the local beauty and fashion industries.

The group got together and chose 13 judges that work in the local fashion, beauty and media industries. The judges were given paper ballots with each category and the nominees, and were encouraged to do their own research to make their decisions.

The public knew little about the show in the days leading up to the event, except that there was an awards show. Hallmarq's main goal for the evening was to bring the community together and shine a much-needed spotlight on the immense talent in Sacramento.

"I don't care if I win or lose, I'm just happy to be a part of it," Hallmarq, who was nominated for an award himself, said. "It's a way to recognize people in the community."

The evening was star-studded, with presenters like Jonathan Waud ("Make Me a Supermodel"), Merlin Castell ("The Fashion Show"), decorator Bobby Trendy, and Naima Mora and Caridee English ("America's Next Top Model") popping in throughout the show.

"I am elated to be in the state capital!" Trendy gushed before the show. "It's kind of like an Emmy award but without the Emmy!"

Local "stars" also made appearances and presented awards. Rachel and Sarah Campbell of TwinSoup.com, Sactown Magazine's Elyssa Lee, Marci Landgraf of Muse Salon and Hair Boutique, and The Sacramento Bee's Leigh Grogan all took the stage.

Sacramento's more well-known designers, Lauren Oto, Mercedes Ben, Dee Aguilar, Alexandria von Bromssen and Monte Christo all showed off their new fall and winter lines to the packed audience, who barely had standing room.

Dee Aguilar's line ran wild with everything from chiffon, shimmers and fur hoods going down the runway.

Mercedes Ben, of Benzo Couture, showed off spandex leggings, sequins, and fun takes on the classic, body-hugging "little black dress." Ben also got a head start on holiday party dresses, with wine-colored chiffon and creatively-silhouetted neutral-colored dresses.

Judging from the oohing and aahing, the audience was more than pleased with what they saw.

Mora, winner of the fourth season of America's Next Top Model, hosted the show and was more than happy to be involved. "Richard and I have been friends for a long time so when he asked me [to host] I of course said yes," she said.

When asked how Sacramento compares to other cities in terms of fashion, Mora said, "I like to look at each place individually. Every place I've been has something individual to offer and all of the designers [involved in the show] are gracious, endearing and wonderful. They have an extreme amount of talent."

Despite the big names, Hallmarq intentionally kept the ticket prices at a low $10 in advance so that everyone in the community could afford to come if they wanted to.

The show got a huge amount of support, with makeup by MAC cosmetics, models from Cast Images Talent Agency and hair by Strands Salon and Spa.

"It was hard in the beginning to get buy-in and support but once it got rolling not one person said 'No,'" Hallmarq said.

He says that he plans to make the awards show an annual event and hopes to bring in even more names and include even more of the community at a larger venue next year.