Fashion On Ice
By: Hope Wilkos, Writer/Blogger
Photos: www.universalsports.com
The sport of Ice Skating, so graceful to observe, has now taken a step into the fashion world as NBC TV presented ‘Fashion On Ice’ on Sunday, November 13th, with designer fashions from Betsey Johnson and J.Mendel worn by some of the top skating champions in the world becoming models on ice. The event took place to the live music of the legendary “Queen of Soul”, Aretha Franklin, who sang some of the hits from her newly released album along with a mix of her classics.
The two-hour event was sponsored by Paul Mitchell Hair Care and Pandora For Unforgettable Moments.
The show was hosted by two absolute beauties themselves and no strangers to skating and style. Tara Lipinski is a skating champion many times over and remains the youngest individual gold medalist in the history of the Winter Games. Karolina Kurkova is one of the world’s top-earning models best known as a Victoria’s Secret model for a number of years.
Betsey Johnson always gives us frilly, feminine and fun in an over-the-top performance. Since she is a bit of a dancer herself, she could relate to the vision she was trying to create. Johnson brought on the stars with costumes of hoops and ruffles, black netting, pink and black combinations and flowers in the hair or the big playful hats. Making clothes for movement was the big challenge. She expounded on the nautical theme in an adorable and magical way along with a little maid costume and even a nice tailored suit.
J. Mendel, a designer who got his start in Russia, then Paris and then on to the United States, gave us the sensuous, yet glamorous and extraordinary on the ice. His outfits were embellished with feathers and fur, pleats and lace, simple and silk, sequined and sexy. The rainbow of colors used were silvers, blues, red and blacks putting a stimulating spin on the ice. Sarah Hughes, 2002 Olympic Gold Medalist, was an agile princess on ice in a red strapless sheer knee-length dress.
As the cast of champions glided on the ice, they made it look effortless under the glistening night stars of the Sears Centre.
In addition to Sarah Hughes, the cast of champions included Sasha Cohen, Joannie Rochette, Johnny Weir, Jeremy Abbott, Ryan Bradley, Sinead and John Kern, Alissa Czisny and Meryl Davis and Charlie White. All have made their mark on the skating world with medals dating back to 2002 and all the way up to and including 2011.
The beauty of movement on ice was captured with finesse. It was evident that the design talents of Betsey Johnson and J. Mendel are easily transformed from the runway to the ice.
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