Melissa May, one of Denver's most talented local fashion designers, will be premiering her retro beach inspired Spring 2009 line tonight at 9 p.m. at the Colorado History Museum, 1300 Broadway.

Followers of the Denver fashion scene will no doubt have seen May's work by now, but this is her first solo show in Denver. She is known for her feminine frocks with gorgeous detail and I for one cannot wait to see what she has to show us. Tickets to the event are $10 at the door. For more information, click here.

-- Aubrey Shoe

Slide show

Live music became fashionable Saturday at Bender's Tavern. Models rocked on as they strutted in local designers' labels; Broken by Jonny Applegate, Eropersona by Summer Jackson and Jackson Ink by Willy Jackson were all represented. And if the crowd liked what they saw, they could get all the rockin' fashions without being punked, since the featured shirt designs were available at a surprisingly affordable price.

-- Kimberly Berkey

Bag on this.

Dana Miller was turning more heads than any other vendor at the Green Frontier Fest Sunday. The co-owner of BaggyShirts – who sells reusable bags made from recycled clothing – made a statement with disposable plastic grocery bags. She was a trooper, despite the hotter-than-expected temperature, spending most of the afternoon getting her picture taken with delegates and Denverites who loved her baggy look. See more of her work by clicking here. -- Jessica Centers

Vanessa Gochnour, our local designer this week, is a model of preparation, single-minded vision, and involvement in the Denver scene.

Stills in Motion, the name of her line of bags, purses, and wallets, combines Vanessa's personal photography with her hand-sewn fabric creations. She uses pre-cut fabrics with paper backings that can be printed with a photograph. She then hand sews the fabric directly onto the bags.

Vanessa has many interesting designs of her own, but is also willing to take orders for custom designs. Her work is a unique, affordable (most of the designs run under $50, and some are only $10), and cleanly stylish take on accessories. Vanessa's designs avoid being overwrought or bland because she spends so much of her time involved in fashion -- whether working at the uber-hip store Fancy Tiger (which also sells her work), or doing photography and designing.

She also sells at Fabric Lab and Taboot, which means that she’s represented in both the South Broadway and East Colfax fashion areas, where many of Denver’s most distinctive shops reside.

Vanessa didn’t rush her appearance on the Denver scene, chosing instead to prepare and work on her style before starting under the Stills in Motion banner early last year. “Before that, I was just making purses for friends and family and just kind of testing out stuff,” Vanessa says. She knows she prepared as well as she could have, and remains optimistic about her chances for success in Denver. “It’s kind of difficult at this particular time (with the economy) for Denver to be as big as it could be, but its definitely heading in the right direction,” she says of the local fashion scene.

Stills in Motion can be found online at www.stillsinmotionbiz.com, by emailing stillsinmotion@hotmail.com, or at The Fabric Lab, 3105 East Colfax Avenue, Fancy Tiger, 14 South Broadway, and Taboot, 3000 East Colfax Avenue.

-- James Anthofer

This week's local designer, Sherry Hern, is similar to some of our other recent picks because she is fairly new to fashion (she’s only been designing for a year) and she uses familiar materials in unpredictable ways. Her designs, sold under the name Down Boy Down, also have the same spirit of fun as recent spotlighted designers Crotch Talk, Kelli Modica, and Jonathan Applegate.

Sherry was introduced to fashion by her friend Lisa Cook, who makes skirts under the label Black Unicorn. Lisa’s skirts, like Sherry’s, are one-of-a-kind and made of recyled material. “We take old dresses from thrift stores and reassemble them into skirts with new silk-screen designs,” says Sherry. “I think you can tell my skirts from Lisa’s skirts, we each have our own style of layering and motifs.”

Kelli Modica, our local designer for this week, has only been in Denver for about seven months but she's already created some impressive and original fashion with the help of The Other Side Arts complex, which we mentioned in this profile of designer Jonathan Applegate.

Kelli's designs for her lable, Captured Ink, are screenprints created from modified pictures taken during her adventures traveling and teaching in South Korea.

“I was selling flat prints of some of these photos, and I thought that I could make them more interesting by putting them on shirts,” she says.

As we’ve said before, Coloradans can’t seem to stay out of the news when it comes to undergarments. One local designer has taken our proclivity for exciting new uses for underwear, and translated it into a new business venture.

Heather Arellano, the spotlighted designer for this week, can easily sum up the process that led to her Crotch Talk wear. “The idea came to me while I was sitting on the toilet,” she says.

Making your own fashion and art isn’t always easy, and Denver’s fashion community could always use more options for those without the means or knowledge to create their own style. In finding out about a local designer, I unearthed an interesting option for anyone interested in making their own fashion.

Local designer Jonathan Applegate designs and make his own screenprinted t-shirts under the name Broken Perception. He thought of the idea a year ago while he was driving back from a family reunion in the mountains. His sister, who has a degree in fashion design, gave him some encouragement, but Applegate took the initiative to buy the equipment and create the designs himself.