The Big Sur Fashion Show is so much more than a fashion show.
(Designer, model, and dancer: Jamie Oksas)
© Meredith Mullins

A Cultural Encounter with the Spirit of Community

The Fashion Week buzz is brewing in Paris, New York, and London, where unsmiling models will soon walk briskly on catwalks with haughty disdain. But we, on the California Coast, are thousands of (metaphoric and real) miles away.

We’re at The Big Sur Fashion Show—a vibrant and unconventional celebration of artistic imagination.

Elaine Gateno and Daniel Munoz are Big Sur Fashion Show regulars.
© Meredith Mullins

This event is not a no-smile zone, as in the fashion world of haute couture. This is a party. A cultural encounter with community spirit like no other. A fashion show for, of, and by the people. And everyone is smiling.

Neva Case—”Living the Dream” (in plastic, paper, tin, rubber, CDs, and glitter)
© Meredith Mullins

How can you miss with creations made out of local elements (shells, feathers, flowers, moss, bark, redwood) plus synthetic hair extensions, shish kebab sticks, plastic bags, feather dusters, chicken feed bags, bread bag twists, old kites, shoe laces, wine corks, doilies, origami paper, mirrors, coffee filters, vinyl records, CDs, and waffles?

An elegant ball gown and wrap, designed and modeled by Christy Carico, made of
mosaic pieces found on the beach as well as an array of recycled items.
© Meredith Mullins

Anything Goes . . .

From the start of this event in 2009, there was only one rule—“Anything goes but clothes.”

Co-founder Lisa Goettel remembers the fashion-changing night, when she and co-founder Sara Carr hatched the idea in a Big Sur bar. The community had just been devastated by a wildfire and was in desperate need of a universal lifting of spirits. It was time for a party.

Let the party begin! A Dionysian Resurgence designed by Roberta Forward and Tamara Franscioni.
© Meredith Mullins

Why not a fashion show? And why not expand the boundaries of art, as Big Sur folks often do, with the added challenge that the designs had to be made out of materials that weren’t cloth or traditional fashion fabrics?

“The show was not about style,” Lisa says. “It was about expression.”

In the beginning . . .
(Elle Brewer and Dji Shodgen)
© Meredith Mullins

Friends and neighbors came together for the first show at the Henry Miller Library in Big Sur. The designers, models, production crew, and rowdy crowd of a few hundred friends and neighbors confirmed one of the basic principles of the adventure—“If it’s not fun, it’s not worth doing.”

Sadie Kvenild creates “Tentacles of Light” with crocheted plastic bags, plastic spiderwebs,
shish kebab sticks, and Spanish moss.
© Meredith Mullins

Just for Joy

The event, which began “just for joy,” grew. Each year, something new was added and more people gathered.

A kids’ fashion show was born (the “littles” as they’re called in Big Sur). A jumbo stage screen came alive. A yearly show theme was created. A theme was offered even for the audience fashion (this year “Color Me Water”). And, the show became a fundraiser to help support several activities in the community.

A fashion show for the “littles” leads the festivities. These kids can dance.
© Meredith Mullins

New designers emerged. Although co-founder Lisa had never sewn anything in her life, she crafted a man’s tuxedo out of porn magazine pages as her first creation, supporting another of the original values: “We empower people to craft their own vision and go big.”

Throughout this evolution, the mission remained steadfast: “Unleashing creativity, worshipping beauty, and inviting the community to experience the joy of Big Sur—and beyond.”

Shake a tail fin. Cassy August is the designer and model for a fish fashion made of sunrise photos, chicken feed bags, and bread bag twists.
© Meredith Mullins

“Oh, I See” Moments Abound

Fast forward to 2018. The event moved to the Barnyard Shopping Village near Highway 1 in Carmel at the beginning of the dramatic winding road that leads to Big Sur. The 700 tickets sold out.

The more than 300 designers, models, and production crew worked for days/weeks/months to put together a show of child designers/models and 28 adult fashion acts.

A peacock for the ages. The “littles” are our designers of the future. They have no fear.
© Meredith Mullins

Each act is two minutes of choreographed performance art. This is not a Fashion Week unsmiling catwalk. This is an exploding runway, and just about everyone ends up dancing.

“Kids These Days” (designed by Livia Peterson and Kristen Fuentes) commands the stage.
© Meredith Mullins

Executive Director Elsa Rivera echoes the feeling of love the participants have for each other and for the community. Everyone is a volunteer. And everyone works tirelessly to make it happen.

The hair and make-up volunteers work long hours to meet the production needs,
such as what kind of hairstyle goes with Erika Rosendale’s waffle bodice?
© Meredith Mullins

Once again this year, the community has risen to the challenges of nature, as the Big Sur roads suffered two major landslides last winter, crumbling under the weight of the earth. And once again the neighbors’ unifying spirit has prevailed.

As the performance of Molly and Scott Moffat proclaimed, “The people of Big Sur are as tough and beautiful as the mountains where they live.”

Molly Moffat’s Big Sur strength, in a fashion made of car metal, tire rubber,
chain, and horse feed bags.
© Meredith Mullins

Age of Innocence

The theme this year was “Age of Innocence,” interpreted often as the purity of spirit we all need in these troubled times but interpreted by a few as a darker message that we are losing innocence in important ways that will have lasting effect on our future.

Backstage with Kelsey Hansen, as she tries on her Victorian dress
made from vintage ads, pages from “The Age of Innocence,” and a laundry basket bustle.
© Meredith Mullins

All the acts were unique and impressively imaginative.

• Skirts made from crayons, paper, plastic, bubble wrap, or parts of a Twister game
• Bodices made with waffles, wine corks, or hand-crocheted plastic bags
• A fish fashion made of photographs of sunrises from an international project, cut into circular scales that seemed to shimmer from their own light
• Warrior armor made with plastic taken straight from recycle bins
• An off-the-shoulder dress and shawl accented with mosaic pieces found on the beaches of Monterey Bay
• And the grand finale outfit made with Big Sur cannabis (legal, of course, in California)

All natural plant fiber (and legal now in California).
(Designed by Heather Suzanne and modeled by Jill Donnelly)
© Meredith Mullins

In retrospect, the kids’ introduction to the Big Sur Fashion Show (taken from a Dr. Seuss quote), revealed the essence of this unique cultural encounter.

“Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you.”

Jamie and Scarlett—No one youer than you.
© Meredith Mullins

The personalities and imagination of Big Sur are as unique as the land—one of the most beautiful places on the planet.

And the Big Sur heartbeat remains strong.

The spirit of Big Sur (Jocelyne Muson)
© Meredith Mullins

Here is more information about the Big Sur Fashion Show.

The Big SuRCuS troupe performed spectacular pieces at intermission.
© Meredith Mullins

Thank you to Executive Director Elsa Rivera, The Big Sur Food and Wine Festival, Creative Director Beverly Van Pelt, Fashion Show MC Magnus Toren of the Henry Miller Library, and Rosalie Webster of Big SuRCuS.

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