The Real Oliver Thomas Shows Fashionably Late
Fashion isn’t all about overly expensive labels in a one size mini fit for all. For the modern women its about functionality with a stylish look. Fashion Week 2018 brought the ladies of Boston exactly that and more featuring Oliver Thomas bags, accessories and badges at the Liberty Hotel’s Fashionably Late.
As guests poured into the lavish lobby of the hotel hot jams came from resident DJ Frank White while gals were able to grab a seat at the pop-up braid bar hosted by Carbon Salon who also provided the hair for the Dynasty models of the evening.
Right on cue the fashion began flowing up on the catwalk from a brand that's all about function and fun. A bright citron Wingwomen Tote was tagging along with a bedazzled “bonjour” black dress from the William Edward Boutique and color wise perfectly paired opened toed stilettos from Burju Shoes were brought together by Stylist of the event Kathy Benharris. From there everything a girl could need from utility to get through the day to look stunning at night came down the runway. Designers like Angelica Timas contributed to the looks with a playful dress and a new release from Oliver Thomas in a bold tomato red 24/7 cross body that can be worn as a belt bag. Or a chic Simone Simon skin tight cocktail one piece paired with an Oliver Thomas Kitchen Sink Cross Body in camo blue. Irina Gorbman brought in her painted pieces of a matching yoga pant and bra to show the versatility of what the black Kitchen Sink duffel from the Oliver Thomas collection has to offer. Lindsay Tia The Cue showed a full white ballet skirt with a black t-shirt and the Oliver Thomas tomato red backpack with black and white racing stripe for that laid-back look. Other designers to pair up were; SKEA with a ski slope style, Jevela Jewelry, T. Jazelle and Tracy Belben with funky flow, sparkle and shimmer and the Not Yo Grannys Fanny Pack from the Oliver Thomas line. The final look to hit the runway came from Oliver Thomas himself rocking what's next to launch from the brand, customizable dog coats.
Scene&Style was able to catch Designer Sue Fuller before the show who looked smokin in an all-black honeycomb sewn Angelica Timas off the shoulder dress. When asked what the inspiration behind the whole collection was, Fuller replied. “It was to solve the heavy multi bag syndrome that women have. Everything we produce is ultimate and light weight. We have a ton of secret stash compartments on the inside, so you can separate your dirty clothes from your clean. There is lots of organization and functionality to the designs with RFID blocking in all our bags.”
Fuller continued with, “The name of the company is after my dog, “Oliver Thomas” and is meant to be a fun functional line that can go from day to night and week to weekend. Our product is vegan and fully machine washable. We don’t want anyone to take themselves too seriously. If you look at our website, we have really fun headlines that say; “This bag will not make your legs nor your weekends longer” or “This bag won’t make you fabulous if your miserable to begin with.”
When asked to choose her favorite piece from the collection Fuller tensed up a bit with a reply of, “It’s like having to choose your favorite child.” Then moved into describing their latest piece “We are introducing the kitchen Sink Duffel it has great organization on the outside for all of your shoes if you are going to the gym, it also has a secret stash bottom when you are trying to organize your day. You can fit about three pairs of shoes in the bottom. It has a great super sporty cross-body strap that is contrasting and looks very relevant and fun. Then of course, you can customize any of our bags with one of our patches and just a hairdryer. You can pick your own badge.” Fuller then showed her statement for the evening “Bullies need not apply”. “We have over 50 badges that you can choose from”.
What is the statement you want your collection to be making? Fuller expressed, “In total we talk about how important it is for people to not take themselves too seriously and just to have fun. We want them to collect the collection. That’s why everything is all about easy care you just put it in machine wash cold, hang dry. Its lightweight, we talk about if we haven’t lightened your load today then we haven’t done our job. We wanted to make it uniquely yours. That’s why we want you to customize it with our badges. We’re hoping that by putting badges on people will come up to you, connect with you and continue to form relationships.”
Post show as the jam-packed jail house began to clear Scene&Style was able to snag Producer Kathy Benharris. Kathy was enthusiastic when saying, “It was important to Oliver Thomas that the clothing, shoes, etc. be sourced from Boston area purveyors of fashion so everything that was in show came from local designers, brands, and boutiques. As the stylist, I wanted the looks to convey confidence, playfulness, and sass. Oliver Thomas bags are incredibly versatile so from athlesiure to dressy, I wanted to present a wide range of looks that were based on real life activities and saved an editorial statement to close the show. For the finale, I did go for it with an editorial look by using a tiara that matches the Oliver Thomas logo and a cape to showcase the Oliver Thomas badges because they are amazing, and I wanted to show as many badges as possible to close the show. I believe every female can be her own super hero and it was great to work with a brand whose product is truly fabulous.”
"The Oliver Thomas brand believes “Open-mindedness is the new black”. Nobody needs another bag. Nobody really needs another anything. But you want stuff sometimes and there’s nothing wrong with that. They just won’t try to sell you on the fact that their bags will make neither your booty nor life story juicier. Their bags carry stuff. Not self-worth. For more on the line or to purchase visit theoliverthomas.com . "
Photos By : Clark Linehan
