Show Us What You Got The White Rabbit Written By John G. Miller Photographed by Evan Sung

Early December, in The White Rabbit, a minimalist bar on Houston Street, striving, young, untapped talent was gathering. Designers and DJs had all come together in friendly competition to show off their best stuff. Who had organized all this talent to come together in this little, sleek, white shoebox of a bar? I walked in to a buzz of activity as competitors were signing in and prepping for the show. I took advantage of the time to size up the situation and find out more about this party and meet the organizers.

The event is “Show Us What You Got” a kind of open-call/audition designed to select talent for “The Closet,” a visionary new concept in promotion and partying where fashion hawks get the best of bleeding-edge style and partying in one event. “The Closet” is organized by two young and talented women, Elisa Harca and Najwa Moses, a.k.a. the Styleaholics. Elisa and Najwa united backgrounds in party promotion and jewelry design, forming Styleaholics to promote the unique fashion sensibilities they saw every night at parties and clubs.

Najwa and Elisa

The Styleaholics bill themselves as the Ambassadors of the Eclectic Lifestyle, and they do not disappoint! The international array of designers offered up a diverse line of clothing and accessories full of unexpected mélanges and cross-cultural influences. A parade of female DJ’s came, platters spinning, to provide a background soundtrack of hot beats and grooves upon which the designers could display their efforts. As if these talents needed any more motivation, images from the last “Closet” event provided a backdrop, tempting the competitors with the exposure and respect that comes with being chosen for “The Closet.” After the success of the last “Closet” in New York, which attracted more than two thousand people and the attention of industry eyes from Vogue and TRACE to Lucky and Jane, it will be put on again in several cities up and down the East Coast. So, with all the hype growing around this event, I knew I had to check it out.

The crowd had clearly rejected “mainstream,” and fresh new ideas were heavy in the air. Though they were ostensibly competitors that evening, there was an excitement and camaraderie among all these artists appreciating each other’s work; fashion designers and DJs were exchanging notes and clearly thriving on the cross-pollination of fashion and beats. Elisa and Najwa, our ambassadors for the evening were busy, but having a great time, chatting people up, making introductions, all the while scrutinizing this season’s crop of designers and DJs for the looks and voices that would make it into the next “Closet.”

I was blown away by the independent voices of the artists and the grassroots strength of “Show Us What You Got.” It was a tough night for the judges since each participant brought something very unique to the table. One designer’s line, Michael Cordero’s 1 Soul Designs fronted a look one might call “Hip-hop gentleman chic.” Graffiti’d revolutionary quotes and old-skool Hip Hop refrains adorned pinstriped blazers. Cordero’s designs challenge the border between the opposing cultures of activism and established power. The knitwear line, Ande Sew, created by partners Betsy & Susannah put a new spin on traditional, colorful Latin American knit, recontextualizing it for more urban surroundings.

During the intermission I walked over to the judges’ couch to ask if they were seeing the same magic I was. I spoke with panelist Joselle Yokogawa, a fashion writer based out of New York and L.A. She told me that she was there to support the concept of “fusing of fashion and music”. Yokogawa went on to say, “Fashion is a talent, and talent is a way to create something extraordinary…lifestyle is an image of the masses.” In other words, talent is what breaks away from the lifestyle of mass fashion to create a new and original voice - one not yet controlled by brand names.

Michael Cordero of 1Soul Designs

The Styleaholics publicized this event exclusively through flyers and craigslist.com, circumventing agents and publicity machines and getting the word out to the talent directly. Elisa and Najwa are paving a new pathway to success for young designers and DJs, a path that sidesteps the “business-as-usual” model and shows the world that real talent can’t be contained and won’t stay in the closet for long. For more information log onto www.styleaholics.com.