Vogue Gone Rogue: A 13 Roses Fashion Show offers an Expansive Artistic and Community Experience
Photographer: @jamgodeditz
13 Roses is a collective that strives to produce a positive and expressive creative community, pushing artists to define what creativity means to them while providing them a platform to express themselves authentically.
Creativity without community can not only be lonely, but unfilling. In major cities, individuals who pursue creative endeavors often face elitism or systemic barriers, discouraging them from practicing their craft and pushing them into isolation. While some of the most talented artists don’t come from nepotism or possess the funds to execute their creative conceptualizations, without a safe space to not only practice their craft but also be applauded for their work can be draining. Whether in film, photography, fashion design, or marketing, all dedicated creatives deserve accessibility to resources and opportunities to foster income from their work.
Massive excessive consumption and overstimulation create a mental fatigue that causes us to disconnect from our communities, digitally and physically. Not everyone will be given their flowers in front of large audiences. However, that doesn't mean they don’t deserve flowers at all. 13 Roses not only gives local brilliant creatives their flowers but also creates experiences where we can seek inspiration, support each other’s work, and gain the resources to make a lucrative career from our artistry. It all starts with safe and accessible community spaces, such as the 13 Roses Fashion Show and the Visionary Film Festival, which allow you to experience all mediums of art in one space.
The Vogue Gone Rogue Fashion Show may be the future of fashion production. Atlanta’s underground and Gen Z creative community prioritizes inclusion and diversity, which is truly reflected in the space's unique approach to runway shows, featuring abundant social gatherings and multidimensional showcases. For starters, the show offers a robust experience that extends beyond a 15-minute runway show for a single designer. It blends elements that Gen Z creatives love: visual art showcases, fashion, DJ sets, and community discussions into an interconnected moment.
Fashion shows for even smaller brands can cost over $ 200,000 to $ 1 million for a 10-to 20-minute showcase. Famously reserved for influencers, celebrities, and major fashion houses, seats during these shows can range from $64 to thousands of dollars. As Gen Z faces not only the most opportunities and career options due to the digital age, we also face economic pressures living in a post-COVID society. Independent designers, while brave to take an entrepreneurial artistic career route, don’t have the backing of major fashion houses to fund their collections or presentations, leaving their success solely contingent on themselves. These barriers, coupled with the social anxiety dilemma amongst Gen Z, pose unique challenges in the fashion industry.
Making fashion shows a multi-dimensional creative experience is a testament that
Atlanta shifts the culture. Rooted in community, diversity, and authenticity, the second annual fashion show fostered an enriching experience, including two local DJs, four designers, and ten visual artists. This year’s fashion show, Vogue Gone Rouge, features designers Hiba Heikal, Tyla Elise, Brett Sidney, and Jade Thompson.
The night at a glance:
To paint a picture, the experience kicks off with live DJ Sets by Fonderr( @fonderrrrrrr on Instagram) and Maky from Local Hipster ATL(@localhipsterky) as people start to trickle in and soak in the ambiance of the space.
After the first DJ set, we got to know our designers before seeing their collections with a panel conversation moderated by Justice Sakhi, co-founder of 13 Roses.
Many seasoned designers prefer to stay out of the public eye and avoid speaking to the press or addressing the audience directly. However, young independent designers are shifting the strategy by creating an intimate relationship with their audience. The conversation was intimate, peeling back all the layers that come with being a young creative. While many established designers prefer to allow the work to “speak for itself”, in the current socioeconomic climate, the work isn’t enough. As Gen Z shoppers are more sustainably conscious than previous generations, the morals and values behind the designer matter just as much as the work. These raw and intimate conversations allow the audience to fall in love not only with the quality of the clothes but also with the designers themselves.
After the conversation wrapped up, Fonder took to the DJ booth to get the audience hyped for the show.
Photographer: @jamgodeditz
The first collection of the night comes from God Given, designed by Hiba Heikal, Chief Operating Officer of 13 Roses. In a total of five looks, Heikal’s collection was created over a span of time, showcasing her progression in design, as this is her first runway showcase of her work.
The looks consisted of upcycled ties and revamped denim into a vintage, edgy, and sustainable take on the office siren. Opening with an off-shoulder necktie top styled over a fishnet long-sleeve and pinstriped trousers,
Of the well-crafted looks, the tailored vest, upcycled halfway into neckties styled over a classic white button-up, and flare denims and beige pinstripe blazer reworked into a classic cropped blazer and skirt set were standout looks.
The ability to transform a simple accessory, such as men’s neckties, into a multi-pattern tube top isn’t one that comes easily. The courage to take on the time-consuming and visionary task of reimagining an item has us eager to see what she’ll do next, and rethinking the way we wear ties forever.
Designing for one year, Heikal’s design approach is sustainable and transformative, taking pieces we may discard and upcycling them into a new life and story. Many creatives face the challenge of delaying the release of their work until they reach a very specific milestone. Expressing she experienced self-doubt ,the highs and lows are something many creatives face, yet Hibba’s work is a testament that your hard work and creativity deserve to be on display now, even as it grows and evolves.
Following the opening collection is Divinity Designs, designed by Tyla Elise. The fiber art designer showcases her Spring/Summer ‘25 collection, Spring Garden Fairies, in five lightweight and breathable looks.
Photographer: @jamgodeditz
Also showcasing her work on the runway for the first time, Elise is joined by her momager and younger sister to support her backstage. The segment opens with a voluminous red A-line mini skirt paired with a green bralette top with red roses over each breast. All the looks featured handmade crochet pieces in earthy tones, such as green, yellow, and blue. Inspired by fairy tales and fictional characters, each look is styled with fairy wings, allowing the woman to channel her inner fairy with delicate fabrics close to the earth.
Even mixing two crochet styles and hand sewing, each looks possesses an extreme amount of care and detail. From mini hand-woven flowers to draping bottoms in an opposite crochet style, the intentionality behind each piece is admirable and eye-catching. Inspired by SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) alumna Chelsea B, who creates high-quality, exciting, and intricate designs, Tyla Elise draws from her influences and challenges herself in her own work to improve at her own pace.
Whether on a beach or a stroll through the park, Spring Garden Fairies was made to be movable and versatile. In a world where fast fashion has infiltrated many of our closets with low-quality threads and sloppy pieces, brands like Elise’s are a breath of fresh air as the designs are mindful, grounded, and sustainable.
Following Spring Garden Fairies is a streetwear brand specializing in reworked and original “modern classics”. Mixing vintage styles with modern silhouettes, Preacher Company effortlessly combines what we value from the past and what we’re loving in the present.
Designer Brett Sidney began as a graphic designer and musician, yet his love for vintage thrifting inspired him to carve his own path into fashion. The unisex collection features sophisticated garments such as wool, mohair, and heavyweight cotton. Mostly utilizing earthtone colors, with boxy and relaxed silhouettes, each piece feels retro, yet fresh and reimagined.
Photographer: @jamgodeditz
While streetwear can receive a lackluster connotation as being casual and bland, it’s streetwear that defines a culture and represents what a community values and resonates with. Many young creatives currently value vintage, one-of-a-kind, unique pieces. Take the “Nostaligia” Floral Lace Buttondown in Mocha (the first piece to make its way down the runway), for example. The piece is a classic boxy silhouette, yet reimagined into a modern, slightly cropped body with hand-sewn white lace onto the collar and two pockets, transforming a minimalist sweater into an instant staple piece.
What makes these minimalistic and classic pieces so memorable is their simple, yet unique details, such as black hand-stitched contrast stitches on beige wool sweaters, black screen-printed horses on the back of the garments, and embroidered logos on tops and accessories.
Like many creatives, the path to design isn't linear. Many start in other design mediums, such as architecture or graphic design. In Sidney’s case, his experience as a musician and visual artist gave him an advantage when deciding to pivot into fashion. Drawing inspiration from brands like Bodie and Stüssy, Sidney reimagines beloved silhouettes and shapes into unique, fresh, sophisticated staples.
Closing out the show is SCAD Alumni, Jade Thompson from Jade Christina LLC. In four looks, the Evergreen collection was a catalyst for Thomspn to fall back in love with her craft.
Photographer: @jamgodeditz
As creatives who strive to make a lucrative career out of our art, it can quickly begin to feel like work, sucking the joy out of what once gave us life. While the passion for creativity remains, it’s easy to start creating from a spirit of capitalism rather than purpose. This collection reconnects SCAD Alumni with their purpose, making more than just clothing; instead, it creates an experience. In the current high-fashion and fast-fashion industry, there’s little room for freedom and experimentation due to economic pressures, fear, and scarcity. Yet a pro of being an Atlanta-based independent designer is that the fashion scene moves at a relatively slow pace, allowing time to innovate, reflect, and explore life and creativity for ourselves.
While the collection was small in size, each piece felt grounded and spiritually elemental with fabrics like lace, silk, and beads. In colors sage green and black, representing renewal, healing, and sustainability, each piece is paired with either a voluminous embroidered lace or glistening, flowing silk.
The mixture of statement and capsule pieces felt grand, yet down to earth, as each look balanced each other perfectly. From black lace with extra-long shoulders with sage green faux leather pants to a silky green halter top with black flare pants cutout at the hips, the collection has a well-grounded balance and harmony.
Sustainability is more than a trend– its a movement that we live by and create in.
What’s refreshing about young Atlanta-based designers and artists is their commitment to the practice of environmentally conscious design, vulnerability, and community, a harsh contrast to practices of mainstream media and major fashion houses.
Fostering a standard of authenticity, Justice pushes not only their internal team to maneuver with solid core values but also empowers creatives to create unapologetically, ensuring that they can achieve their wildest dreams.
13 Roses encourages their community not to fear questioning themselves, as the answer that comes out on the other side could be their breakthrough into a new life. There’s power in being vulnerable with one's audience and showcasing their artistry – not when it’s perfect, but while it's in progress.
https://www.ocdanxietycenters.com/mesa-arizona/how-social-anxiety-is-affecting-gen-z-more-than-ever/