Avant Garden, the Walker Art Museum’s largest annual fundraising event, returned to the lawn last Saturday for an evening of bold colors, clashing patterns, sequins and sparkles of all kinds, and a glorious amount of headpieces. For this year’s theme, PLAY, attendees were encouraged to try something new, stray from the status quo, and simply have fun with fashion.
Kristia Meyer
How would you describe your personal style?
I like to think of it as being a mix of retro and modern. I like some kitschy elements, which I try to incorporate through earrings or a statement piece. I stick to more modern lines, something more current. Like maybe the “clean girl” aesthetic along with pops of color and some statement bag or earrings, something with an animal or whatever.
Where do you shop to blend a clean girl aesthetic and retro style?
Right now, I do a fair bit of repurposing. I have a very big closet and I have not gotten rid of any of my clothes in the past 20 years. I try to go back in and utilize elements I already have. Instead of having to constantly buy something new, I’m like “OK, what do I have that I could rework into something that’s current?”
Every now and then I’ll buy stuff from Zara and H&M for the staple pieces. I like old school Betsey Johnson for earrings, some of the Kate Spade bags that are more kitschy like the pizza box or animals. I pick up really creative things on Amazon, too. Oh, and Target.
Where do you find style inspiration?
Right now it tends to be from movie references, depending on the time of the year. I’ll get an idea in my head from watching Practical Magic or something like that right now where it’s fall vibes. I’m like “OK, how can I incorporate these elements into my everyday style?”
There are a few influencers I follow, but most of the time, it’s just a vibe. I try to still be me so I try not to feed into trending things too much. I’m finding a lot of retro, kind of half electro, half jazz. Like Gatsby-era stuff is influencing me right now. I mean, I don’t know, it just comes out of nowhere!
If you’re not at Avant Garden, what are you wearing on an average day?
If I’m at home, I dress like a toddler. I love jumpsuits. Anything that’s a one piece or jumpsuit is my go-to, whether it’s a sweatsuit or whatever. You can dress it up or tone it down.
Tell me about your outfit tonight: the inspiration, the what, the how you’re PLAYing with fashion.
I am a galactic clown goddess tonight. I was trying to lean into the PLAY element and they said to mix and match prints, and I do really love a theme. Like, give me a theme, any theme, and I’m about it all day. But how can I lean into this PLAY element, and, well, what’s more playful than a clown?
This is all stuff that I owned already and repurposed. The ruff was the centerpiece—like when am I ever going to wear a ruffled collar? This is it. Ages ago I was a go-go dancer so I had a mesh top. This [tule] piece used to be white and was a part of a different element, and I tried to dye it neon green to match the top—and failed! Complete fail. My husband said he kind of liked the light blue with this so I just said “OK, we’re going with this.”
Brittany Radford
How would you describe your personal style?
Vibrant, bold, and intentional.
Where do you find style inspiration?
The colors. Being a person that is oppressed, I always want to bring life to the world because I often feel that it’s dark. I think for me, traditionally, yellow is my favorite color. So I do that a lot. I also utilize fabrics that can be molded to my body since I’m curvy.
Where do you shop to achieve this vibrant style?
I would say I’m plus-sized so Torrid and Lane Bryant are where I traditionally go. I also love thrifting.
If you’re not at Avant Garden, what are you wearing on an average day?
Never sweatpants. Something with a print, that’s loud with some colorful glasses and crazy earrings.
Is this your first time attending Avant Garden?
It is my first! I just moved [to the Twin Cities] seven months ago from St. Louis, Missouri. But I’ve been wanting to come here so I was so excited to be able to go. I think this is amazing. With what’s going on in the world and the lack of resources and funding for the arts, I think this gives us an opportunity to recognize that there is hope still in the world.
Tell me about your outfit tonight.
I was freaking out about what to wear, but I really love crayons. They give me the freedom to be creative but mess up and know that imperfections matter. I knew I wanted to wear my art. I’m a photographer, but I wanted to use my poems. I wrote two poems, one around what is happening within the world but also around my body and being an artist. “The Playground of Resistance” is on the front. The back is a poem I wrote called “I Wish I Was a Crayon.” I wanted to find a way to illustrate and make sure the crayons are present; to be intentional around my body, and to name things. So the person [listed on the placket of the dress] is an African American artist that used crayons to bring things she’d encountered to life.
I stenciled the front and back for the titles. But I thought it was important to use my handwriting [for the poems] so I drew every word by hand, which took hours. I got done at 1 a.m. [the night before Avant Garden]. The crown took about an hour—I cut myself a couple of times on it, but I was committed.
Was the DIY aspect important when styling yourself for this event?
It was very important because I knew I could just buy something but I really felt it’s intentional around the theme of PLAY to do DIY because as adults, we often don’t play. That’s something I want to do in my career, to encourage adults to play and have fun in their bodies.
Heather Whitebread
How would you describe your personal style?
Maximalist. 100%.
Where do you find style inspiration?
From my friends, honestly. I get very inspired by them. And fashion week's going on right now, that’s a big one. I suppose just people I follow on Instagram who also have an over-the-top style.
Where do you shop?
Vintage! Vintage and thrifted. I have so many favorites. For vintage I like Olio Vintage, Glam Diggers Vintage, Rewind Vintage, Up Six Vintage—I could go on and on, there are so many.
If you’re not at Avant Garden, what are you wearing on an average day?
Because I work from home, I'm in pajamas. But if I’m going out, with girlfriends or something like that, especially in summer, it’s usually a dress: colorful with lots of accessories.
Tell me about your outfit tonight.
This is a vintage gold dress from MayBabyVintage, and everything else is antique toys and noisemakers that I’ve fixed to myself. You can actually take [the noisemakers] off and I can have people use them so it’s interactive. Because I love vintage. I thought it was a fun thing. I’d say this [look] is about 50% DIY. The colors of the toys [inspired the rainbow palette] because they’re all primary colors so I just stuck with that theme.
Raymel Lofton
How would you describe your personal style?
I would say “exquisite” or “imaginative.” I’m usually either dressed up or dressed down. I’m a personal trainer, so I’m not dressed up for that, but if there’s an event where there’s some networking, I try to let my style show my creativity.
Where do you find style inspiration?
My peers, the people around me. Some people I follow on social media. But honestly, I try to be innovative on my own. I do a lot of thrifting and I’ll get a lot of clothes from brands that I work with. I’m all about putting pieces together and making it come to life, come together.
Where do you shop to achieve this style?
I like Express, Billy Reid—I just became a stylist for them in Edina. Renaissance Access, of course, with the suits. I get a lot of stuff from fashion shows I’m in, which include Renaissance. I actually have a partnership with them now where they style me for events I go to.
If you’re not at Avant Garden, what are you wearing on an average day?
I think jeans and a button up, or a simple T-shirt. When you live a healthy lifestyle you don’t have to put on too much because your outfit, your physique, how you carry yourself are going to come out. It’s good when you put the clothes on and can put it down, but it’s also good when you’ve got it inside; if your energy and confidence comes from within. I’m pretty casual, but I have a lot of suits so I do suit up a lot when I’m not in gym clothes.
Tell me about your outfit tonight.
I decided to go with a royal blue double-breasted suit, satin and polyester made. I got everything from Renaissance, I literally told him what I wanted, he found it in the lookbook, and ordered it for me. Everything just kind of came together aside from a couple of bracelets that I have. I went with a royal blue because I thought it would be colorful, good on my melanin skin, and that it would be a pop.
