Among motorcycles and motor scooters, designers Destani Hoffman and Stevie Boi walked designs of structure and minimalism down the runway on Tuesday.
Southern Design Week hosted guests at The Transportation Revolution European Motorbikes New Orleans on Julia Street for a show of garments that have the potential to spark a conversation.
Hoffman, the mind behind DH Designs, is an illustrator at heart and used the shapes she’s illustrated from her emotions and transferred them to clothing. She said her true inspiration came from the struggle she experiences of balancing her personal life with her designer life.
“As a designer, you’re always trying to better yourself,” Hoffman said.   “Other people shouldn’t be your competition. Yourself  should be your
competition.”
Hoffman is originally from Mobile, Alabama, and attended college for design in New York City. After school, she decided to move back to the South and hasn’t looked back. Working with Southern Design Week is one of the reasons she moved back, as fashion is becoming a growing, successful industry in the South. 
“I don’t think I will ever leave,” Hoffman said. “I’m so excited about how much [the fashion industry is] growing, and this alone is just a fantastic experience, especially for designers like me who just want as much exposure as we can get.”
Her fall/winter 2015 collection consists of constructed crop tops and skirts in grays and light purples. The clothing is asylum-themed, including large buckles, chiffon pieces and eyeball detailing.
The eyeballs are a large part of Hoffman’s garments, ranging in size and placement. She said the choice of adding these to several ensembles was from the idea that as a designer, she is always being watched for what she’s
doing or what she’s going to do.
“That sort of weighs down on you, and it makes you think harder and harder and harder about your next collection,” Hoffman said. 
For designer Stevie Boi, having eyes on him is nothing he shies away from but instead, embraces. 
Stevie Boi’s creative influence came at the age of 16 from the likes of designer Richie Rich and model Amanda Lepore. 
He graduated college with a criminal justice degree, but after graduation, Stevie Boi’s creative side took over. Instead of using his degree, he decided to pursue his passion for fashion.
“They were like ‘No, Stevie! Wear makeup. Dress crazy. It’ll get you attention,’ and they were completely right,” Stevie Boi said. 
Stevie Boi named his fall/winter 2015 “CR3AM” and said, while he is known for bizarre and over-the-top designs, he wanted to go more simple this time around. 
The entire collection was made in black and white and includes joggers, rompers and dresses. Some items have graphic patterns, including “CR3AM” written on some of them. Stevie Boi said there were certain challenges he experienced while making the collection — one being
using all white.  
“I’m still a boy at the end of the day, so I like to roll around in the dirt type of thing. But I thought it was a great challenge for me, and it worked out very, very nicely,” Stevie Boi said. 
Originally, Stevie Boi said he planned to make the collection entirely out of latex, but finding the right white shade of spandex was impossible because it doesn’t exist. He said he wanted the latex to give the collection a sexual and provocative look, but he then decided to make it mature and tone it down by using mesh and lighter fabrics.
The collection also includes models pairing their ensembles with Stevie Boi’s eyewear designs. The sunglasses are encrusted in jewels in varying colors. 
Stevie Boi said all of his collections’ inspiration comes from playing with people’s minds and creating conversations. 
“I love doing things controversial,” Stevie Boi said. “My last collection was entitled ‘ecstasy,’ and it was spelled ‘x2c’ but I wanted people to automatically insinuate it with drugs. And I wanted people to insinuate ‘CR3AM’ with something else.” 
Stevie Boi’s appearance in Southern Design Week is just one of the 20 countries and 16 cities he is showing in during his “CR3AM” tour. He said he personally would not want to buy or support a designer he didn’t know.  
“Designers are so boring, and they’re wrong,” Stevie Boi said. “Because they think ‘Oh I show in [Mercedes Benz] New York Fashion Week’ that means you covered all the spectrums of the demographics and the genres but you haven’t. You have to individually go to people’s cities, do what I’m doing right now, be personable and be hospitable.”  
You can reach Meg Ryan on Twitter @The_MegRyan.

Gallery • 6 Photos

Ronni Bourgeois

Stevie Boi shows his clothing line "CR3AM" on Tuesday, March 13, 2015, during Southern Design Week in New Orleans.