On the afternoon of April 26, from 2 to 5:30 p.m., Ballet Arizona’s Contemporary Council and the fashion incubator FABRIC will present En Pointe: High Tea & Couture Reimagined. This fundraiser, which will close out FABRIC’s annual Eco Fashion Week (April 19-26), blends the worlds of ballet and sustainable fashion in a celebration of creativity. 11 fashion designers (9 solo designers, and one couple) will upcycle costumes from the Ballet Arizona archives into new garments that showcase their artistic styles, philosophies and ingenuity.
These one-of-a-kind designs will be available for guests to bid on as part of our silent auction along with other exclusive items. Prior to the fashion show, the designers will have select items from their collections available to purchase in a VIP shopping experience.
Before you attend, get to know the people behind the fashion and see examples of their past creations.
Alma Primero
Mexican American designer Alma Primero is a FIDM graduate who began her career working with companies like Guess and Bebe. She is known for embodying “Amor, Pasion, y Coltura” (Love, Passion, and Culture) through a blend of her heritage, modern design and classic silhouettes. She uses traditional embroidery techniques to create designs that she says “make women feel confident, beautiful and unapologetically themselves.”
For the “En Pointe” event, Alma turns to her background in bridal and gala dresses by making a sophisticated evening dress she calls “The Rose of Sharon.” Alma explains, “This dress tells a story many can relate to one of beauty and impact brought to life through the garment. It serves as a reminder of the preciousness of life and the lasting impact we can have even after we’re gone.”
Alma has showcased her work at LA, Phoenix and Miami fashion weeks, and she was the finalist and winner on the Steve Harvey Show fashion challenge. She is preparing to debut Coleccion AP in 2025.
Amanda Jacobs
Sustainable fashion designer and educator Amanda Jacobs graduated from West Virginia University with a bachelor’s degree in textiles, apparel and merchandising and a minor in business. She began her career at Fifth Avenue Club, a personal shopping experience at Saks Fifth Avenue. Her fashion brand, Classic Reclaim, centers on sustainability, craftsmanship and timeless style by acquiring and repurposing garments and giving them new life. She says, “Classic Reclaim celebrates fashion as a form of personal and artistic expression. Each design is unique, encouraging individuality and storytelling through clothing.”
The “En Pointe” event was particularly of interest because of reworking the ballet costume into a modern aesthetic while preserving its story and history. Amanda shares, “I loved creating my own fabric to supplement the design; that was a great process. [The design] is classic and simple, and I worked really hard to utilize the fabric from the original [Ballet Arizona costume] that would be recognizable in the new design. The pink and blush tones of the large floral print add to the chic aesthetic.”
Ruby Farias
Self-taught clothing, accessories and textile designer Ruby Farias creates “custom luxury lifestyle apparel for women who want to stand out of the crowd, are bold and want something especially made for them.” She works in a variety of mediums, including creating beaded jewelry and woven clutches, clothing and home goods, and large abstract painted and mosaic murals.
Ruby was interested in the “En Pointe” event because it sounded like a fun challenge, and she enjoys giving back to the community. Throughout her career, she has donated her time and talent to a number of nonprofits throughout Arizona. Without giving away all of the details, Ruby says her upcycled design, using an archived Nutcracker Marzipan tutu, will be “fun, comfortable and unique.”
Sherry Zhang
Sherry Zhang is a fashion designer and couturier with more than 25 years experience designing custom pieces for clients. She has experience in corporate fashion and personal attire, with her specialties being personal couturier services, stage costumes, evening gowns and wedding dresses. Her design philosophy is that less is more, while also finding the importance and understanding her client’s individual needs “to help them achieve a look they desire and that is beyond their expectations.” Her design for “En Pointe” is what she describes as “relaxed and fun with elegance.”
Amelia Walsh
A fourth-generation Arizonan, Amelia Walsh began learning the art of clothing construction at an early age from her mother’s bridal work. She continued her education at Phoenix College and Arizona State University, and has become a top designer in the Valley, even headlining Scottsdale Fashion Week. Her designs focus on “inclusive womenswear that embraces a romantic, eclectic aesthetic while maintaining a sense of relaxed, bougie, lazy luxury–pieces that feel as indulgent as they look.”
Throughout her career, Amelia has found inspiration from “the fluidity of dance, the emotion of music and the organic beauty of nature,” which she believes come together in “En Pointe.” Her work for the show will tell a story of the past and present as she combines the original orange fabric of the Ballet Arizona costume with an impressionistic print of ballerinas in a nod to Degas.
Amelia is currently creative director at FABRIC and is a fashion professor at Phoenix College where she champions sustainability, innovation and mentorship.
Bria Blunt
Bria Blunt is a designer and 3D textile print engineer who serves her design community in Arizona by helping other small fashion designers make their dreams come true. Her clothing brand Bria Ale Bleu is part of her aim “to pave the way for fully sustainable and responsible clothing production that neither stifles creativity nor causes harm.” Bria’s work can be described as otherworldly, feminine, opulent and wearable, with recent designs being influenced by the things that inspired her as a child.
Her designs embody “movement, femininity and storytelling,” which she says are shared qualities of design and dance and a reason behind participating in “En Pointe.” She adds, “My background in dance and love of free-flowing motion influence how I design garments that allow the body to move with grace, much like the ballet itself.”
There will be a princess-like quality to her piece for the fashion show, with Bria explaining, “Drawing from my past work, this creation will carry a sense of opulence and romance while remaining grounded in versatility. The garment will invite the wearer to step into the poise and grace of a dancer, transforming the upcycled ballet suit into something fresh yet timeless! Without revealing too much, expect a silhouette that moves with the body—allowing anyone to feel like an everyday princess in motion!”
Gail Friend
Phoenix-based fashion designer and illustrator Gail Friend has been creating art for as long as she can remember. Her inspiration comes from nature, color and animals. “I view fashion as art and my favorite part is creating handmade flowers and trims that are my signature style,” says Gail. “My tagline is: for the Other World where magic lives.” For the “En Pointe” event, Gail will be upcycling a Nutcracker Flower tutu that is filled with color. Describing her creation, Gail explains, “It will be bright and celebrate the costume with handmade flowers.”
Major highlights of Gail’s career so far have been having her designs included in fashion shows during Milan Fashion Week and Phoenix Fashion Week. She is currently working on a new handbag line.
Sam Hamati
Phoenix-based fashion designer Sam Hamati has over a decade of experience in bespoke fashion, having designed custom pieces for performers and socialites. Their work merges fashion and art by pushing boundaries in garments that fuse “sweet decadence with grotesque elegance.” They believe that clothing is more than an adornment, explaining it as “a conversation, a spectacle, a reverie.” Each garment is a balance of contradictions such as decay and decadence, structure and fluidity and restraint and extravagance.
Participating in “En Pointe” allowed Hamati to combine lifelong inspirations of couture and the ceremony of high tea. The designer explains, “The grace of ballet and the grandeur of couture share a natural kinship, making this collaboration an irresistible endeavor.” Their designs are meant to be experienced, as they dive into theatrical storytelling, and the work for this show is no different.
“My reimagined ensemble will waltz between centuries—a rococo fever dream spun into modernity, as though Madame de Pompadour herself were scribbling transcendental poetry at a most trifling tea party,” says Hamati. “Decadent, deranged and utterly divine, this confection of couture shall blur the lines between past and present, restraint and revelry, discipline and decadence.”
Antonio & Amber Hall
Pastiche Brandz:
Antonio and Amber Hall are the fashion power couple behind Pastiche Brandz, encompassing Pastiche Streetwear and Pastiche La Femme. Together their goal is “to create and design unique fashion garments that speak to the heart of individuals that love to express themselves through color.” Based in Coolidge, Arizona, they design vibrant apparel for men and women.
The “En Pointe” event is a chance for them to connect with a new audience and showcase their work for a good cause. In upcycling the Ballet Arizona costume, a blue and purple skirted bodysuit, they are returning to their beginnings. “We typically do separates, even though we started with dresses,” they explain. “For this event we will be going back to our roots to infuse a new print into our first love (dresses) to create a garment that is both sophisticated and flirty.
Joanna de’Shay
Joanna de’Shay was born in Accra, Ghana, on the western coast of Africa to a Nigerian father and Russian mother. She grew up influenced by the people, cultures and textures of her homeland. In 2013 she created her Black Russian Label, a contemporary clothing brand “for the global, chic woman who is unapologetic, bold and empowered by her individual style.” Her work blends artistic expression with quality craftsmanship to craft garments that evoke emotion and meaning.
For the “En Pointe” fashion show, Joanna’s design embodies the fluidity and movement of ballet. She says, “Featuring a custom variation of my logo, the print adds a unique and artistic touch, making this piece truly one of a kind. Designed with innovation, it’s a creation that speaks to the most discerning women–graceful, sophisticated and effortlessly chic.”
Joanna has an MFA in fashion design and a master’s in management. She currently serves in the faculty at Arizona State University teaching in the ASU/FIDM fashion program.
