Two steps. Shoulder bounces. Cross-genre music always sets the dance vibes at Off The Clock, one of a few intimate pop-ups of eclectic artists and young professionals in Palm Beach County who are tapped into an off-the-beaten-track food, art and music scene.
This time, OTC Editions, event planners and independent artist collective that isn’t backed by any major cultural institutions, returns with its second OTC fashion edition.
The live exhibition features art installations, live painting, and a "fashion flash mob" — a spontaneous, unorganized runaway of models of various ethnic backgrounds, styles and sizes.
It promises to illustrate how fashion itself is an applied art form, challenging age-old arguments that it isn’t, said Horace Henry, the OTC founder and avid fashion connoisseur.
Although the institutional systems and gatekeepers underlying the fashion and art industry function differently, Henry said fashion is inextricably linked to “visual culture" and that live exhibitions of multi-fabric clothes and hairstyles makes it a "unique artistic expression" that extend beyond name brands and capitalistic trends.
"I carry myself in a specific way based on how I feel, just like how an artist will paint something based on how they feel,” Henry told WLRN. “It's not just putting on some clothes and walking outside. It's a lot of intentionality within it.”
OTC is bringing their talents to the new A'lu Mexican Cuisine in Boynton Beach, a boho chic style restaurant with a bright outdoor space overlooking a lake.
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If you know, you know
Locals who frequent OTC events are accustomed to their After Dark Listening sessions at Ravish — an al-fresco style restaurant in Lantana — where popular guest DJs spin vinyl records of soul, funk, house and Hip Hop and “mash it up” with R&B, AfroBeats, reggae, Latino and Haitian music.
For the pop-up at A'lu, the gathering itself is moving art, turning the place into “a home for creatives, a place where you can clock out and connect,” said Henry, who has worked in hospitality industry for nearly 15 years.
More than 24 creatives this year will take part in the show — from visual artists, photographers to models, designers, and hair stylists.
Jess Kirby, a surrealist artist and Palm Beach County native, is showcasing a collection of unconventional paintings and art accessories, like headbands and earrings created from actual canvases.
She told WLRN the county is experiencing a mini renaissance because many artists and event-goers are feeling less pressured to go to Miami for these types of immersive gatherings.
Blending fashion and art is one way to attract more people to these spaces.
"I'd say the two are intrinsically connected. Fashion is art, art is just an expression of yourself,” said Kirby, a rising local artist and graphic designer who typically makes cameos as a live painter at several events across the county.
"It doesn't have to be a painting. It's however you choose to visually express what's within.”
If you go:
OTC Editions: Fashion
WHEN: September 15
Time: 7 p.m. - 11 p.m.
WHERE: A'lu Mexican Cuisine: 1080 Gateway Blvd, Boynton Beach, FL 33426
For more information, RSVP OTC Editions
