Fashion Show 2.0
June 2011
After the Livin Loud Fashion Show being a success, Anton started to travel the country and do heavy research. He had established excellent credit at the age of 18 for the best rates and had a small cash reserve to be able to travel conservatively. He had travelled to Miami, Key West, Chicago, LA, and Vegas. He found that the biggest fashion convention in the USA is in Las Vegas 2 times a year called Magic. Later he spent a few months of the year in Vegas learning about all the diversity that travels through there.
A year later he was determined to design men’s clothing. He loved the latest and greatest with the highest quality available, and while traveling he found so much diversity but still a small gap in mens fashion. He decided passion would fuel his creations only by designs that were based on his own personality. At the time, he had enjoyed rhinestones & the concept of bringing them into fashion, but the trick was to do it in a classy manner. He then decided to create something he has not yet experienced before, the concept of hand laid rhinestones in pattern sequence to silk ties that he made. The collection is crystallized & designed for special events, weddings, prom, activities, lounges, & nightclubs. He then set off searching for the brightest possible fabrics he could find in the world. His goal was to create vivid shirts with classy contrast. This fashion show was his first experience with creating full outfits for men. He designed 15 outfits for men from scratch. But little did he know, this was not an easy task. He was not familiar with sewing and pattern making. He hired a few people in his city to help. Instead of hiring out, he ended up rolling his sleeves up and helping them and learning from them how to create garments. This was a long journey that for only 15 outfits, took 6 months. It also cost him a lot of money as well. But he was determined and knew that once he learned and created patterns, he would be closer to creating his own label.
So in June of 2011, he showcased full designs of menswear with the brightest cottons he could find in the world. The planning for this show took almost a year with all the research and pattern drafting. But it was well worth it. After the show, he received a lot of feedback from the local community and some press and attention from the news and media as well. But not just the local press, he received some recognition nationally as well. Vegas Seven Magazine did a story on him about the trend of the month and a new designer to keep an eye on. This was just the beginning….But at the time, it wasn’t yet Anton Alexander. The label he had come up with was EXOTIQ APPAREL.
