Tag - Elevate Lounge

Elevate Lounge, located on the penthouse floor in downtown LA was the setting for Heidi Luerra’s RAW event, featuring a fashion show by 7Lightningbolt. RAW is a collaborative event that brings together designers, artists, musicians, photographers, make-up and hair, etc from all over Southern California. All RAW events are located in some of the hottest venues in LA, Long Beach and Fullerton. The creative mind behind RAW and of Project Ethos fame is Heidi Luerra. She told me that it took only about a week to produce the event. But that’s after having seven years experience in Hollywood under her belt and having numerous artist contacts. As a fellow designer (and FIDM grad) Heidi saw fellow artists not get anywhere because they didn’t have the financial resources; but she wanted to change that. Thus, RAW was born, giving artists the opportunity to showcase their work for free. She does ask that they promote the hell out of it (the event). For for information or to get featured in a RAW event, go to www.HeidiLuerra.com or www.rawartists.org.
Before the show, I surveyed artwork by Daniel Acuna and Felicia of Jazmin as well as a photography slideshow by Michael Yates (www.michaelyatesphotography.com).
After a few words by VJ Michael Benz, who was wearing a new hoodie from his line, Blive Couture and a new glove boasting MJ’s face- a tribute to the legendary singer’s passing; the show started.
The crowd went wild as 7Lightningbolt’s collection went down the the runway. There was a mix of mens tees, jackets and vests that were deconstructed and womens jackets, screen printed tees and reworked suits. The theme from the models hair/make-up was a menagerie of pirate meets punk meets 40’s pin-up. Everything in that collection, dubbed “The Environmental Renegades” by one of the designers, JD Nielson; was made from recycled clothing/fabric. The price points range from $60 for tees to $275 depending on the piece and work. For more info, 7Lightningbolt is on myspace and their official website is www.7lightningbolt.com.
The last acts of the evening was a dance act by Sarah and Taryn, which featured a combination of choreographed dance and contortion moves; and music performance by Legs on Sale.

Special Thanks: The Designers of 7Lightningbolt: JD, Joe and Kenny; J’s Luxury Taxi Service, Heidi Luerra, Michael Yates, Parris Harris, DJ Robb-Rockwell, Felix Salzman of LookbookLA.

Note: RAW and Heidi Luerra believe in being green, so they have collaborated with solar2web.com to make the site totally eco-friendly. For more info, contact either Heidi or solar2web.com.