Off-the-Wall Show Matches Venice’s Style

One of the more unusual fashion shows of the season took place on a makeshift runway on a dead-end street in Venice recently.

With not a French, Italian or New York designer label in sight, 28 models paraded in everything from hand-painted, clear-plastic skirts and jewelry made of cement to paint-spattered, lavender leather suits that retail for more than $4,000.

The show was produced by artist/entrepreneur Romulus Yaari, who offers the fashions at his Venice gallery/boutique.

The artsy audience of blond-, brunet-, red-, violet-, blue- and pink-haired men, women and children gave raucous welcomes to models Tequila Mockingbird (who designed her own clothes and accessories to emphasize her voluptuous silhouette and orange dreadlocks), Brenda (who gave up a career as go-go dancer and burlesque star in Japan) and Sonia (who comes from Texas where she made a living roping longhorns).

Street people lined the perimeter of the roped-off area, trying to make sense of the colorful display of fashion and folks and of the human collage of painted leather, painted silk and painted faces.