Kaya Suncat is attractive. Beautiful, sure, but I mean in the energetic sense. Kaya Suncat is magnetic. I have met few people with a bigger field, more best friends or would-be lovers. She really is a natural phenom. And just try not to get drawn in…
Lately there has been a change in her current. She has begun to organize the people about her into startling new patterns.
And so I sat, among a loose collective of models, musicians, help-meets and exes in an undisclosed warehouse location as Suncat and her scriptwriter, Celosia Fireflower, laid out ornate plans for Exposé 3. It will be a fashion show extravaganza in 27 parts, with six fashion collections, as well as eight burlesque, music and magic performances embedded in a theatrical retelling of the myth of Persephone and the birth of spring.
I would worry at the audacity of Suncat’s ambition, but she is backed by sturdy festival organizer Donny Penales and fronted by Sweet Best Petite, the North Bay’s most dexterous MC/dancer/stand-up/author.
Cincinnatus Hibbard: Kaya, your collective is large and our space is small. Can you just name the burlesque performers and principle designers?
Kaya Suncat: Yes. Our burlesque performers include Vixen the Magician, Velvet Thorn, Sultry Siren, Cassandra Burlesque, Charli Bones and the unicorn twerk team. The fashion designers include Artisa Rose, Wizard Sky, Noralina Freedoms, Sew Down, Tati Designs and Reprezent. During intermissions, guests can visit our fashion market.
CH: I understand you are pairing each designer with an accessory maker and the DJ with the mixed elements of a live band. Kaya, this reminds me that the root meaning of glamour is “magic.” Could you tell me about the decision and intention behind putting all of this glamour in a mythic reenactment?
KS: It’s a fairy-tale fashion showcase. So we decided to frame it as someone telling a fairy tale to you. And we develop how stories, fairy tales, fables and myths make us who we are, by teaching us about morals ,struggles, the hero’s journey and how to be human.
CH: Kaya, what are your further ambitions for this seasonal Exposé fashion series?
KS: Eventually, I would like this platform for underdog designers to be a traveling live event in the festival world. And maybe an undercut countercultural Etsy alternative.
Learn more. A Fairy Tale Fashion Debut is Saturday, March 15, at Soft Medicine Sanctuary in Sebastopol. Visit softmedicinesebastopol.com for tickets. Follow Kaya Suncat on Instagram via @suncat_entertainment and @suncat369.
