As a San Diego native, I’ve been a fortunate witness to the rapid explosion of local entertainment and fashion over the past several years. No longer are we seen as a simple sleepy surf town that boasts the nation’s best weather and most attractive people (as if that weren't enough). On top of these coveted accolades we have become one of the country's leading hotpsots for progressive culture and style. In fact, many of the top name brand designers, performance tours and exhibitions have put San Diego at the top of their list for reaching influential and fashion savvy audiences.
Enter Bikini Week SD: a brand new innovation that has already been compared to the world famous Fashion Weeks of New York and Los Angeles. With the eyes of the national media focused intently on our hometown runways, we at The LIST Magazine are proud to present an insider’s look at this overnight phenomenon. We asked the creator of Bikini Week SD, Michael Lee McGriff, to fill us in on the origins and future of this exciting new show.
Michael: The idea for Bikini Week (BW) started in late march when our salon A Style Concierge (ASC) was asked to do hair/makeup for a local model agency and a bikini line from Orange County. We are also asked to create a fashion show for them at Stingaree nightclub. Our team performs hair shows at Stingaree every Friday night and I felt that doing another show there wasn't going to have much impact.
"So I explored the idea of doing a weekend bikini fashion show with a big pre-party and professional photo shoot at one of our cool downtown hotels on a Saturday night and follow up with an extravagant pool party, multi-designer fashion show the following Sunday. And as my ideas started going crazy I conceived the idea of expanding to 3 days and creating a BW similar to a big Fashion Week from LA or New York. Then I checked online to see if a BW existed anywhere else in the U.S. and discovered that BW wasn't happening anywhere that Google searches. From there I created the first BW and expanded my initial 2-3 day bikini event to 5 days. And here we are BW San Diego 2009. It was extremely ambitious for me to think that I could do something with such magnitude in only 12 weeks. But then again I'm not known for being mediocre."
The LIST: Where are you from? How are you connected to San Diego?
Michael: Other than living in the Philippines for a few years I'm from San Diego and have lived here for nearly 40 years. I grew up in the southwest portion of SD called Nestor. It's next to San Ysidro and Imperial Beach. I've had 15 different jobs and recently quit working for a Telecom company for nearly 20 years. As a "cable guy" I became very familiar with the different place throughout the southern region of San Diego and have played around in downtown, OB, PB, La Jolla and Southbay as a socializer in the nightlife scene.
The LIST: Who are some of your influences? Business, fashion or otherwise?
Michael: My influences are innovative business minds. I don't try to rethink the wheel I just like to add 20" chrome rims to the wheel to make them stand out. I like to test traditional thinking and move away from the box and push risk for uniqueness and fulfillment. Many successful businesses are recognized for specific reasons, well I like to combine the unique qualities of different businesses to produce the "best of the best" results.
The LIST: What have you been up to recently?
Michael: A Style Concierge is still our baby and it needs plenty of parenting so most of my time is focused on how to make us stand out amongst the crowd of downtown salons. Since we opened doors in early 2008 we've been tagged as SD STYLE ICONS by 944 Magazine as well as their Platinum Award Winner as a new salon. Our styling team's work have graced the cover of many magazines such as Pacific, Ranch & Coast, Runway LA, 944, San Diego Bride & Groom, and Revolt. ASC has also done numerous TV news station appearances with designers, boutique owners, and event coordinators. Our radio interview experiences are limited but we have worked with Sophie Radio, Art Rocks Fashion Radio, the Wonderland Experience with Jimi & Leslie, and soon 93.3 Radio. Events have become our specialty as we have performed in most of SD best venues including Hard Rock, Stingaree, the Ivy, W Hotel, Del Mar Marriott Arterra, Universal, Bar Basic, Jacks La Jolla, Thin/Onyx, Side Bar, Se San Diego Hotel, Red Circle, Confidential, East Village Art Walk, and the former Aubergine nightclub. We have also worked for the last 2 years at the LA Fashion Week events. Some other notables are styling for Ed Hardy clothing 3 times, Playmates of the Year from Playboy, Aubrey O'Day from Danity Kane, Lisa Lampenelli, Brande Roderick from Celebrity Apprentice, numerous popular DJs and all of the Stingaree Girls and Hard Rock Girls.
The LIST: What's next for BW/ASC?
Michael: BW has become a huge monster and with zero experience and little support it’s impressive to see what has been accomplished thus far. Luckily for me I was able to convince some extremely talented individuals to understand my vision and help make most of it happen. This will be a great event that will allow ASC to show off all of our talents and creativity for all of the cameras and crowd to see. There are some mind blowing ideas for BW 2010. I have received requests to put BW in many high profile cities across the US. As for the salon, we will be moving to a prominent location on 5th Ave. in the Gaslamp next year. Expect amazing things from ASC and make sure you go online to www.bikiniweeksd.com to get your tickets for this summer's sexiest, hottest, fashion event.
Michael: BW has become a huge monster and with zero experience and little support it’s impressive to see what has been accomplished thus far. Luckily for me I was able to convince some extremely talented individuals to understand my vision and help make most of it happen. This will be a great event that will allow ASC to show off all of our talents and creativity for all of the cameras and crowd to see. There are some mind blowing ideas for BW 2010. I have received requests to put BW in many high profile cities across the US. As for the salon, we will be moving to a prominent location on 5th Ave. in the Gaslamp next year. Expect amazing things from ASC and make sure you go online to www.bikiniweeksd.com to get your tickets for this summer's sexiest, hottest, fashion event.
omg i have to go to this, Go Michael!
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