Mother-daughter designers have display at Bucktown
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By Katie Vaughn | Monday, March 26, 2007 |
A sleek black outfit suited for space travel, an ethereal ensemble of pink silk and sparkling gold, a brocade dress as dramatic as a Shakespearean play.
Those are just a few of the fashions created by the mother-daughter design team of Shelli and Erica Eng. They also are the focus of a new exhibition at The Wearhouse, a gallery at downtown Davenport’s Bucktown Center for the Arts.
Shelli Eng knew her daughter would be a fashion designer long before Erica realized it. Erica created her first design sketch at age 4, and Shelli has consistently helped bring her visions to fruition.
“I always knew we would do this together,” she added.
After Erica graduated from the Illinois Institute of Art in Chicago in 2003, she and Shelli turned a studio in their Erie, Ill., home into the headquarters of EmeDesigns, a women’s couture design business.
The studio’s division of labor has Erica doing design, patterning and draping work — “the artistic vision of it,” she said — while Shelli helps with construction and handles the business aspects.
“She’s kind of everything,” Erica said. “I’m just the artist.”
The Engs’ focus is on couture, clothing made exclusively for a client. They have a handful of steady clients who come to them for couture clothing for special occasions. A custom fit is important and proves that a woman needn’t be a size 2 to look good in her clothes, Shelli said.
EmeDesigns also creates costumes for theater groups. In 2006, Erica and Shelli outfitted productions for the Showboat Theatre in Clinton, Iowa, the Richmond Hill Barn Theatre in Geneseo, Ill., and the Junior Theatre of the Quad-Cities in Davenport. While those projects are labor-intensive, Shelli said she and her daughter are passionate about the work.
“We like theater, so we don’t like to get away from it too far,” she added.
The exhibition at Bucktown features dresses — as well as the sketches and patterns behind them — for Lady Capulet in “Romeo and Juliet.” Green and red velvets, olive satin, gold brocade, purple crepe and hand-painted silk form dresses boasting wide sleeves, sweeping capes and dramatic stand-up collars.
Also on display are vignettes featuring designs Erica began in college. A class project that required her to create a costume for a movie character turned into a “Star Trek” collection and the spin-off Klingon line, she said. The fashions make use of black leather, gold metal, high boots, vests and corset tops.
A Cleopatra-inspired line showcased at The Wearhouse also served as Erica’s senior project. She watched such movies as “Cleopatra” and “The Mummy” to get ideas for costumes she would have created for a film set in ancient Egypt. What she chose were sheer pink silks, textural knits and sparkling gold fabrics.
Donna Lee, owner of The Wearhouse, said Erica and Shelli’s emphasis on couture makes their fashions veritable works of art.
“That means original, from the head to the paper to the piece, just like any artist,” she said. “It’s another creative process.”
The Engs soon will open a studio on the first floor of Bucktown. They will construct a stage in the window-heavy space and drape designs that can be seen from outside the building, Shelli said.
After they open in May, the two plan to allow other young designers to sell fashions there. They also will partner with area high schools and colleges to start an internship program at the studio.
Additionally, they will continue their couture work, although they realize the Quad-Cities doesn’t have the strongest of markets for such work, Shelli said. They will continue traveling to Los Angeles, Miami, New York and other cities to hold trunk shows, she added.
EmeDesigns will hold a wearable art fashion show 6-9 p.m. March 30 as part of the monthly Final Friday building-wide event at Bucktown. Erica created designs for the show using popular cuts and unconventional fabrics. She chose industrial materials — burlap, door screens, plastic and window blinds, among others — to play up the creative, artistic nature of her designs.
“The fabric is not something you would go in every day,” she said. “I wanted people to understand the art part of fashion.”
Katie Vaughn can be contacted at (563) 383-2282 or kvaughn@qctimes.com.
If you go
What: Couture designs by Erica Mae Eng
When: through April 21. Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday. A wearable art runway show will be 6-9 p.m. Friday, March 30, as part of Bucktown’s Final Friday event.
Where: The Wearhouse, Studio 204, at Bucktown Center for the Arts, 225 E. 2nd St., Davenport
How much: Free
Information: (309) 737-2066 or www.bucktownarts.com
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