San Francisco Fashion Week '07: Effie's Heart
Designer Kim Pledger’s heart belongs to the 1920s as well as the 1950s. She divided her Spring/Summer 2008 line into two collections. One reflected the Roaring ’20s, and the other echoed the era of Elizabeth Taylor and Rita Hayworth.
Pledger, a graduate of the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in San Francisco, took the concept of the flapper dress and transformed it into a sleeveless knit ruffle dress that falls just above the knees. She created a tight-fitting gray pinafore vest worn with a gray knit skirt and magenta under-skirt. Particularly inventive were her ruffled leggings with button details.
The 1950s were translated into fashions for a saucy woman, seen in a cropped pant that flared below the knee and was reined in with ties. Pledger had fun playing with something called the “Hot Tin Roof” dress, which had a sexy circle skirt and spaghetti straps.
“I design my lines for the woman on the go who is a traveler,” said Pledger, who has worked as a patternmaker in the theater. “They are easy to mix and match.” —Deborah Belgum
