INTERVIEW WITH DESIGNER MICHAEL DRUMMOND : KANSAS CITY FASHION WEEK SS'16

Designer Michael Drummond is quite a crowd favorite of Kansas City Fashion Week. He is an alumnus of Project Runway's Season 8. Not to forget he closed the Thursday night shows at Union Station for Kansas City Fashion Week Spring -Summer'16. And he did it in style. This is the third time Michael Drummond has been showing at the Kansas City Fashion Week.

Like so many others in the audience I was completely floored by his collection. No doubt he was my top pick for the day.  He started his collection with just the perfect shade of lemon, which seemed to be the best precursor of the monochromes following next. I am not a fan of leggings, but when he paired a yellow top with leather leggings, I jumped on board. Love the clean lines on all his outfits.

I walked up to him, the next day, we did get chatty over fashion, vacation and inspiration .

Journospeak : What was your inspiration for this Spring -Summer Collection? Your designs had a recurrent print of two hands reaching out. Any special comments on that. 

Michael Drummond: Dreaming, Surrealism, love, longing and bonding were clearly the inspiration for this collection. When you desire something so hard, that your desire turns into madness, and you strive extra hard to achieve that. I guess thats evident in my current collection.

Selfie Fun with Designer Michael drumming and Designer Ngan Vuong

Journospeak : How do you think Kansas city has developed as Fashion destination? 
MD:  kansas City has come up in leaps and bounds in developing as a Fashion destination. Other than the usual big buyers, the general fashion conscious consumer is growing in the Midwest. Theres a lot of young blood in the Fashion scene of Kansas City . Lots of young designers, who bring in a fresh approach to the way fashion is perceived and received.

Journospeak : Your finale piece was just breathtaking in its red foils. What prompted you to craft that piece ? 

MD: I was reminded of camp fires and wanted to capture it. The essence, the flicker of the flames, the story of hope and the good times that you have around a camp fire, filter through my finale piece. Once again, a story of love, of longing , and of being together.

Journospeak : (Chuckling and smiling ) : Campfires? And I thought it was about channeling your inner animal or something. 

MD: (laughing) : You wild one !!! Fashion, you see, is like Poetry. It can be open to so many different interpretations and that's the beauty of art.

Lastly 
Journospeak : Writers, journalists or bloggers suffer from what can be described as a Writer's Block at times. Do designers face such a slump in their creativity ? If so what do you do, to get back your creative boots? 

MD: Oh Yes, we do face that. Big Time. When I need fresh inspiration, or I feel I am stuck, I go for a walk in the woods, to recharge my batteries. The various elements, the rusting leaves beneath my feet, the birds in the trees or the sunlight trickling in, inspire me to get going again. I shut off from social media absolutely. Society can be clawing at times, and I need to get away from everyone and everything, to come back again.

Journospeak: Interesting choice. The Woods and not the Sea ?

MD: The sea is my absolute vacation destination. I will always try and accommodate the ocean in my travel plans. Its so calming, it helps to calm me in so many ways. The sea always looks new and it always has something new to offer. But the Woods , work in inspiring me. So while the Sea calms me down , the Woods lead me on. I get the best of both worlds.