Local Designer Fashions Art into Style

When fashion is distilled, reduced to its essence, it transcends trends, fads and fancy and elevates itself to an art form. 

Thursday, Feb. 9, Fairfield County’s worlds of art and fashion collided in a flurry of rich hues at the Southport Galleries to celebrate the work of one of Fairfield’s premier designers, Jennifer Butler.

Butler showed gowns, suits and even children’s pieces from her pre-spring 2012 collection. All were on display alongside gallery art, creating a textured palette of movement and color.

“When I walked in, I just went, ‘Oh!’ It was just gorgeous,” Butler said of the way the gallery had been arranged to incorporate pieces from her collection. “They [the gallery staff] have been so warm and inviting. And this space, the color, it’s so vibrant.”

Live models posed alongside mannequins against a backdrop of Peter Baker’s photography of Butler’s work and the current exhibition featuring work by multiple artists in a variety of mediums.

Models Shawna Feeley and Bobbie Sue Russel stood statuesquely as guests admired Butler’s artistry and mingled over wine and hors d’oeuvres. But the showstopper of the evening was a sexy, scarlet silk evening gown with a draped, ultra-feminine neckline, a sultry sentinel near the front of the gallery.

“It’s just stunning,” said VanDaysha Taylor, the gallery’s assistant director. “I would need someplace pretty special to wear it. It’s breathtaking.”

Southport Galleries is located at 330 Pequot Ave. in Southport. Jennifer Butler’s Made to Measure atelier is located at 1326 Post Rd. in Fairfield.

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