Photo by Carlos Gonzalez Model Joy Phillips wore a dress by Emily Weich for the Voltage "look book" photo shoot in February. It's hard to believe it's been only five years since Voltage: Fashion Amplified first merged Twin Cities fashion and Twin Cities music in holy matrimony. As the story goes, Voltage founders Anna Lee and David de Young were hanging with friends on a fateful night at the 400 Bar. "Someone said, 'You should just do a rock 'n' roll fashion show!'" Lee recounts, and Voltage was born.
From those humble beginnings, Voltage has consistently raised the bar for Minneapolis fashion, evolving from a punk-rock, DIY production to one that's decidedly more sophisticated and commercially viable, but no less theatrical. And it maintains its defining structure, in which a few Twin Cities bands rock First Avenue in locally designed clothes while models stalk a runway in homegrown designs. This year's highlights are sure to include the flapper-meets-Marie Antoinette looks of Max Lohrbach; bright, edgy-yet-wearable designs by Amanda Christine; and Calpurnia Peach's "Where the Wild Things Are"-inspired collection.
Photo by Carlos Gonzalez As Voltage has blossomed, the local fashion industry has grown, too. Last year, Voltage alumni Ra'mon-Lawrence Coleman and Kimberly Jurek produced their own runway shows, and have since become rising stars on the national scene. More and more designers, like Jurek and Christine, are finding it possible to make a living on their clothing lines alone. With longtime Voltage designers like Laura Fulk and Kerry Riley graduating to their own solo shows this year Voltage has become an incubator and launching pad for the emerging Twin Cities' fashion scene.
