Kansas City Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2020 (KCFW F/W 20) took place from September 24th to September 26th virtually. There were various designers showcasing some of the best clothing designs we’ve ever seen. We decided to interview Annabelle Frese, the founder of FashionAF and one of the designers who took part in KCFW F/W 20, to ask everything from her favorite decade of fashion to the Wearsafe technology in her SPORTZI line.
- What are three words you would use to describe your brand?
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Annabelle Frese: “Colorful, fun, and vintage.”
- A fashion trend you hope never comes back?
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Annabelle Frese: “Probably Shoulderpads.”
- What does fashion mean to you?
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Annabelle Frese: “Empowering women by allowing them to use it as a form of expression.”
- What’s your favorite time period/decade for fashion?
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Annabelle Frese: “The 60s, it was colorful, fun, and I like the silhouettes.”
- What’s your favorite part about your job?
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Annabelle Frese: “I think having a vision and sketching it all out and then seeing it come to life; seeing it on the runway, oh my gosh, it’s the best! I saw one of the models trying one of my designs on Friday and I was just overwhelmed with- I think I was proud and happy to see that it was all coming together.”
- How did you come up with the idea to include Wearsafe technology in your SPORTZI line?
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Annabelle Frese: “Wearsafe technology was a school project where we partnered with academy sports and outdoors. They wanted us to use some type of technology in athletic wear. I used to run all the time and when I moved to the city, I realized I can’t run alone or at night or anything like that. Also, sometimes you might not have a signal or your phone might die so I thought having a backup option to alert if you’re in trouble would be beneficial. I thought it is really necessary for me and a lot of women to ensure their safety and I believe Wearsafe technology does just that”.
- How can we incorporate the Zero Waste project at K-State into the fashion industry?
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Annabelle Frese: “The apparel industry is so wasteful, especially water waste, so using the textiles that you have is- should be more normal but it is tricky. It involves a lot of planning ahead, using what you have, and then turning those scraps into design elements. My project, I had a couple of strips so I braided them together and I made a neckline with that. So it was just a lot of planning ahead involved and if we’re mass producing, you’re already adding …? So using up the entire piece of fabric shouldn’t be too hard, you just kind of puzzle piece them together. I think it’s possible for mass production but it’s a little trickier for someone like me.”
- Advice for young women who are aspiring designers?
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Annabelle Frese: “Get as involved in your community as you can. Make a lot of connections, get involved in all of the community fashion events and don’t give up because it is a really hard industry to get into. I tried out for fashion week twice before I made it. I had to be really prepared, and I can’t believe I’m doing this again and I’m like ‘what if I don’t make it? That’s so embarrassing.’ But it’s not. It’s a really hard industry to get into. You’ve just gotta do it.”
Annabelle Frese was in Kansas City’s Fashion Week F/W for the second year in a row. We can’t wait to see what she will accomplish next! To see more of her work, follow her on Instagram @AnnabelleFreseDesigns or on her website, http://annabellefrese.com/