11.30 Beast of Fashion | Mantra

Join iMan Model and Mangement group for Beast of Fashion at Mantra (52 Temple Place, Downtown Crossing)

5:30- 7 p.m.: Designer meet & greet, complimentary cocktails and live performance byR&B songstress Patrice Peris!

9:30 - 10:30 p.m.: Runway show by Ty-Juana Flores, Delise’ Ana, Sparklle Thames, Julienne Dang, Avari Thomas, Stephanie Green for GREENHAUS, Olivia Chow and Shanna Gall for SG Fashions

After party 10:30 p.m.

General Admission - $25
VIP I - $50 – Front row, runway seating
VIP II - $75 – VIP private seating !!.**VIP ticket purchasers are guaranteed admission to the event. Seating is limited

Tickets can be purchased online here!!

Recap: The Executive Affair Reception

Getting me ready to go to the club at 8 p.m. is quite a feat even for a K. Pritty and J. Francois soiree. But I do my best to respond to personal invitations...and arrived around 9 p.m. My other fab! friends had arrived at 8:30 and were told they weren't finished with preparations, though the invitation said it started at 8. Fortunately most other guests didn't arrive 'til after I did, so it wasn't too big of a deal.

A top of the stairs to Venu, There was an area with the Nightlife Executives logo where people were doing shout outs on a video camera.

The spread was nice - you know me, I gotta peep the hors d' oeuvres table. It was decked out with chocolate covered strawberries, shrimp cocktail, cheese and fruit. They had large plates made of recyclable plates - love the eco-consciousness, but would have been nice if they were aperitif size - we women tend to get a little self conscious when we eat in a dinner dress - and some napkins would have been a nice touch. But I still got a nice helping of cheese and strawberries. Yummy.

The appertizer spread

The decorations

Our MC for the evening was Alicia from Young Black Women's Society who kindly introduced one of the acts of entertainment for the evening a group called Serenity. While my Fab! Fashion correspondent did think that they could have used a little more guidance on their attire, their voices were certainly something to listen to. They really connected with the audience with their rendition of some of Mary J's tunes.

Serenity

Soon the bar opened up with free Hennessey for all, which was really nice, it wasn't an actual tasting so we just went with Hennessy's and coke. Some did it with Red Bull...but that is a lil' too dangerous for me. :)

Mixing and mingling continued as I got to say hello to Darius of Downtimeonline.net, who still has more to come on the website as well as Tito Jackson who let me know the Michael Jackson vs. Prince II Halloween party is coming...y'all ain't ready ;) - stay locked on the Fab! for more details.

"Music Man" Alonzo Harris also got on the mike with his band and sang one of my favorites when he sings Common's "I want you." He usually really gets into the crowd, but was hemmed up by the microphone cord or else it would have been on Alonzo - bet! :) and even Alicia sang her rendition of "Sweet Thang" - everybody got a dream y'all - nah girl you did a nice job as well! ;)

In between musical interludes were fashion show produced by Iman Models of local designers. Sparklle Thames, Avari Thomas and Stephanie Green of Greenhaus, and Lit on Newberry. And I gotta say, their designs were much better than some I saw during Boston Fashion Week. Anybody thought of having a Urban Boston Fashion Week? Or working to get more designers of colors in the mix of Boston Fashion Week? I'm jus' saying...entreprenuers...work on that :) Here's a sample of the fashions...

At the end of the night, the men of the hour were asked to come on stage and say a few words. J. Francois thanked everybody for coming and even gave a shout out to the Fab! thanks! There was also a shout out to the production teams and such, but I didn't have my notepad - I'm tired of waiting on you Jeff - Guess I'll have to get my independent woman on and get my own - thanks...for no-ting. If you want to know all the names of the production teams, they will eventually (you know how they do) show up on their website www.nightlifeexecs.com

The men of the hour J. Francois and K. Pritty, as well as host Alicia

They really pulled off a wonderful event, I felt exclusive, the decorations were a great touch - tables with candles, the entertainment, everything was really on point.

Great way to start things off guys. Congrats!!

Recap: Beauty and the Beats II | John Hancock Hall

I was fashionably late to the Beauty and The Beats II and thought I would be right on time...wrong! It looked like Vision Entertainment Group was on point and started at 7:30 exactly. Ooops! But there wasn't much of a crowd and it was much more mixed than I imagined it would be. I think the $25 entrance feel detered most patrons. As I tip-toed in, I caught the tail end of one of the many sets of the host/comedian Freddie Ricks. He was hilarious! His impressions of Haitians and the Irish had you busting out laughing, then looking around incase you laughed just a little too hard :) So funny.

Photo: Host Freddie Ricks - he was wilin'!

After that was the famed designer Brian Stevens, who had simplistic designs with interesting color combinations.

Photo: Brian Stevens Collection

After each collection set there was an entertainment portion, which was a really nice way to keep the show moving and keep it entertaining.

My new fav group has got to be BET winning R&B group AHMIR...omg I thought I was listening to like Day 26, but with even more talent. They had great stage presence and could really sing! Although their music wasn't original per say (baby...baby...gonna love you all night, kinda thing)...I still would get the album. It's in stores now :)

Photo: AHMIR crooning to the ladies

They didn't really stick to the program, so I got confused as to which designer was who, but here is a taste of the featured designs and designers.

Photo: Parade of designs

Photo: Designer Sparklle Thames

Photo: Models killin' it!

Photo: Designer Heather Hilton

Photo: Yummy models!

Other acts included, The I.T.M Steppers and Dancers, from Lynn who did a really good job, but my camera was dying so I don't have pictures of them. Here's a video performance I found on YouTube...



Also Joanne Memnon performed Alicia Keys "No one" which was...interesting, but she got the crowd involved and singing, so that was cool.

Photo: Singer Joanne Memmon

Lastly was the group Pita Pita...which I gotta say, scared the bejesus outta me! They just kinda ran up on stage and started saying unintelligible phrases. They seemed to multiply on stage before our very eyes...at the end there were like 50 of 'em runnin' and battling and just wow...when they left the stage I was - like what just happened here??

Photo: Pita Pita....smh

I had a surprisingly good time at the Beauty and The Beats II though the beauty definitely knocked out the beats - those models worked that stage! - DJ Gotti did his thing tho', but there were equipment issues 'per the usual. Perhaps if Vision Entertainment Group had publicized more or the ticket price had been a little cheaper they would have had a larger response and given more exposure to these talented artists.

This event gets a Fab! A- for content.