Fashion Feud is not about being catty

It's 6:58 on a recent Tuesday night at the Rickshaw Stop, and a fashionable crowd awaits apparel designers Crystal Hermann and Mary M. Yanez, the first round of contestants to duke it out at San Francisco's third annual Fashion Feud.

While around 100 fashionistas and fashionistos sip their tropical-colored cocktails and nonchalantly sway to dance music, Hermann and Yanez are onstage sewing in a rather calm frenzy as they both conceptualize an entire outfit with fabrics given to them minutes before the competition began.

As the designers measure, cut, drape, pleat and cinch against a 60-minute deadline, a team of makeup artists and hairstylists primp and prime models in preparation for a mini runway show of the designers' creations. It's like "Project Runway" meets the quick-fire challenge of "Top Chef," where contestants are given a substantial task to do in an unsubstantial amount of time. The only difference here is that instead of a camera crew, this is in front of a live audience.

Still, Fashion Feud is not about being catty, as one might assume from the competitive fashion industry portrayed on reality fashion shows.

Here, spectators are invited into the frantic chaos that typically goes on behind the curtains and see a look created from start to finish. Contestants are challenged to sew fast, stay poised under pressure and engage the audience in their creative process.

Before the competition, one of the judges, local fashion blogger Maggie Alhadeff, said, "I'm going to be looking at the seams and whether it's an outfit that someone would be happy to walk around in."

On the other hand, local fashion blogger and judge Stacey Lee hoped for something less conventional: "Originality is very important. We all read Vogue and all the magazines, so I'll be looking for something original with a fresh vision."

Based on audience votes and deliberations by Alhadeff (mimosasinbed.blogspot.com) and Lee, Hermann was pronounced the first-round winner.

Each winner from three rounds will be given a chance to win $150 and a chance to move on to the finals, where he or she can win an additional $300.

The Fashion Feud event, organized by San Francisco Fashion and Merchants Alliance and sponsored by Scion, helps provide a way for local up-and-coming fashion designers to showcase their talents. Alliance founder Owen Geronimo said the contestants are selected carefully.

"I ask for their bios, portfolios and what their goals are, and what they want to accomplish in their career long term.

"I also choose the designers based on what will look best onstage."

Overall, he said, "My goal is to bring new talent to the scene which people love to see. That's what people get excited about."