photos by Don Idio for Festival Squad
I spent the past week in Salt Lake City to hit my very first Das Energi Music Festival. Das Energi is an incredible music festival that takes place at the Saltair just outside of Salt Lake City. The venue has a stunning backdrop of flat desert that leads to a series of mountains. On a Burning Man-eque land, V2 presents has built a rave empire in a conservative state. This venue and this backdrop is perfect for any fashionista looking to display his or her favorite looks amongst the firey and outer world art installations. To continue my exploration of some incredible designers in the festival fashion world, I am sharing my looks from Das Energi 2018.
Friday – Wild Love Clothing “Rave Princess”
I found Kristi and her company Wild Love Clothing after seeing some of her incredible creations hit my #FestivalFashion feed on Instagram. After taking a closer look, I found that her looks are colorful, unique, and playa ready. In fact, she has a pretty crazy story on how she got started in festival fashion. Wild Love Clothing makes pieces that truly stand out – from her sparkly kimonos to skirts, dresses, and bottoms. I was lucky enough to receive a custom-made two-piece outfit by Wild Love Clothing. The pattern on this fabric was a seashell blue with a mild pink splash throughout. The fabric is stretchy, breathable and moisture wicking. I decided to build out a “Rave Princess”/”Rave Mermaid” look to match the fabric and everything I chose was pink or blue. The result was pretty stunning and I received so many compliments throughout the night! If you’re looking for colorful and/or custom pieces, Wild Love Clothing is the shop for you!
More info on Wild Love Clothing:
Store/Shop/Site Name: Wild Love Clothing
Site: www.wildloveclothing.com, www.wildloveclothing.etsy.com
Facebook: @wildloveclothing
Instagram handle: @wildloveclothing
How did you get started in this business? I started WLC while attending design school and working at a fabric shop. Because I have endometriosis I can’t wear anything tight around my stomach without being in intolerable pain. Jeans are completely out of the question. It was even hard to find leggings without small, tight elastic waistbands so I started making my own. I love color and prints so I had all sorts of crazy, psychedelic leggings and would get tons of compliments on them. I really needed extra money for school so I started selling leggings on Etsy. Now I sell a wider variety of festival and yoga apparel, but my goal is still that every item is as comfortable and functional as it is cute. Whether they’re doing yoga, dancing at a festival, hiking or lounging at home- I want my customers to be comfortable so they can live life fully in the moment!
What is your favorite part about festival fashion and your business? I wish people dressed how they do at festivals all the time. I love the freedom of self-expression and the creativity in festival fashion. There are no rules and it’s beautiful to see people wearing what they want instead of what society tells them to.
Who is one designer/manufacturer you’d love to collaborate with? An amazing thing about being in the festival space is that independent designers collaborate all the time! I have met so many wonderful artists and friends through brand collaborations. It would be a dream to work with Little Black Diamond- I have so much respect for her message, brand and how she has scaled her company.
Whats your favorite piece in your own shop? The “Magic Opal Dress” is a full-length, holographic handkerchief style dress that I LOVE wearing! The holographic material looks like a liquid rainbow in the sun and is truly psychedelic. I’m all for showing as much skin as you want- especially at festivals- but keeping this dress maxi length and letting the fabric flow makes it such a statement piece. I can guarantee you’ll stand out in a crowd in this dress! Plus it reflects backlights at shows, so day to night it keeps shining!
Fun fact about your business: The name “Wild Love” comes from the Door’s song “My Wild Love”. The Door’s have my heart and I feel like this particular song captures the free-spirited nature of my brand and customers. It’s also the inspiration for the girl riding a horse in my logo. Another fun fact- I do everything for Wild Love, including but not limited to creating the designs, patterns in sizes XXS-XXL, cutting and sewing each sample and order, customer service, shipping, social media, product photography, keeping my websites updated, graphic design and accounting. It’s a lot of work to not work for the man!
Friday’s Accessories – Electricia Fox Designs
What is an outfit without accessories, anyway? For this Rave Princess look, I knew that I had to go all out with glitz and glam. Luckily, I found Electricia Fox Designs on Instagram about a year and a half ago. In my last fashion article, I talked about upcycling, the process of making something older or vintage into something fabulous. Tricia does something similar to her sunglasses. She takes ordinary frames (high-quality frames to start) and makes them into festival couture pieces. What I loved most about these glasses is that they were pink frames and pink lenses, allowing me to wear them both during the day and at night. It will come as no surprise that I received a million compliments on these one-of-a-kind custom pieces. Tricia’s Instagram is full of her creations, but just know that all her orders are custom! Slide into her DM’s and give her some ideas of what you like and she’ll create something perfect for you.
More Info on Electricia Fox Designs:
Designer Location: United States, Oregon
www.etsy.com/shop/ElectriciaFoxDesigns, www.facebook.com/tricia.m.fox
Twitter: @electriciafox
Instagram: @electriciafoxdesigns
How did you get started in this business? Born and raised in the uniqueness that is Eugene Oregon and having a passion for style and thrifting made me want to create my own wearable art…I always made my own costumes and rave outfits and accessories eventually I started making and selling upcycled jewelry. That lead me to my current passion wearable art festival glasses and goggles.
What is your favorite part about festival fashion? My favorite part of festival fashion is the way it inspires everyone to feel their best! I love when someone tells me what a great time they had while wearing something I made and how many compliments they got on it…so much fun to help others to have more FUN!
Who is one designer you’d love to collaborate with? I’d love to collaborate with Nixi Killick, she’s my favorite psychedelic fashion designer and is a great inspiration! I’ve been having a lot of fun with heart shaped glasses this year…really working on spreading the LOVE!
Whats your favorite piece in your own shop? What do you enjoy creating? I don’t currently have any items in my shop as most of my work is custom…the best ones are sold before I make them!
Fun fact about your business: I have so many great connections and friends I’ve never met via social media that I would never have if it wasn’t for my art! I am so grateful to have a way to connect and inspire new people on the daily!
Years in business: Been in business ish for about 4 years…it has allowed me to only work a part-time day job another thing I am eternally thankful for!
Saturday – Freedom Rave Wear “Red Headed Killer”
Freedom Rave Wear is one of the most well-known company in the rave world. They’re known for their eclectic prints, gorgeous bodysuits, see-thru tops and loads of accessories. Freedom Rave Wear started its company because the couple (Michael and Alyssa) would always get compliments at festivals on their outfits. They started asking people whether or not they would buy what they were wearing. Add a little bit of money and some business cards into the mix and Freedom Rave Wear was born. Now, Freedom Rave Wear has a weekly blog, keeps up on trends and constantly adds fresh designs to the site to keep your wardrobe fresh. I decided to do a fun spin on these rave outfits to create a “Red Headed Killer” look. I started with the Vegas bodysuit and paired it with the Baelien Sleeves. I went for both pieces so that my outfit could transition from day to night. Because the outfit was a marble white and black (some pieces from the collection are still available and on sale here), I decided to pair a red wig with the entire outfit to really give it that “wow” factor with a color pop.
All in all, this outfit was a hit! The bodysuit was comfortable, stretchy and sturdy. Likewise, the sleeves were absolutely perfect to add to the outfit for the colder weather in the evening. The sleeves only covered arms and shoulders so if you like to dance, you can keep warm without breaking a sweat. The sleeves were the same material and print as my bodysuit too! Freedom Rave Wear has a bunch of other prints that have a bodysuit/sleeve combo and I highly recommend both.
More info on Freedom Rave Wear:
Store/Shop/Site Name: Freedom Rave Wear
Site: www.FreedomRaveWear.com
Facebook: @FreedomRaveWear
Instagram handle: @FreedomeRaveWear
Mini bio on you/your business: Full story on Freedom Rave Wear HERE. Alyssa and I started raving in 2014. We were just looking to have a good time out and stumbled into Hard Summer 14′. After having our minds blown away by the excitement, experience, and culture, we decided we had to keep going to shows. Event #2 was Nocturnal Wonderland. Alyssa had been researching what to wear to these events since we saw so many cool outfits at Hard Summer. She decided to make a couples outfit for us themed fire and ice. People were so kind at Nocturnal and after getting a bunch of outfits questions we thought, why don’t we make more outfits, sell them, and use the money to pay for the expensive festivals? It seems so smart…we were broke back then and paying for shows was like priority #1. We hit the festival tour hard and did vendor booths at over 50 shows in 2016 and 2017. We took a 1-year break to focus on scaling our manufacturing this past year but plan to get back to the festival circuit soon.
How did you get started in this business? We just followed our passion. Raving made us feel something we had never experienced. To make it our fulltime jobs has been a dream come true. It really is as simple as that. We have no formal training in business. Alyssa is a chemistry major and Mike majored in international studies.
What is your favorite part about festival fashion and your business? That we are excited to get to work every day. We LOVE what we do! Additionally, promoting our values and connecting with like-minded individuals is very rewarding. FRW’s principles all have to do with the journey of self-discovery and how to improve relationships.
- Self-expression
- Confidence
- Self-love
- Community
Our brand enables us to express, develop confidence, improve ourselves and build community. We want to encourage others to do the same. Chasing our dreams was the best, scariest, and the most rewarding thing we have ever done. We believe that when you practice self-expression, you develop confidence, can begin to love yourself more and with your personal needs met, you can embark on the noble task of helping others and that is a truly fulfilling way of life in our opinion. By no means do we have things down…don’t get it twisted we still make plenty of mistakes:).
Who is one designer/manufacturer you’d love to collaborate with? Mike says Scummy Bears…shout out @scummybears! Alyssa says Hailey Paige.
Whats your favorite piece in your own shop? Alyssa says “I don’t have a single piece…but Havana is my favorite collection.” Mike says the Havana Men’s Tee.
Fun fact about your business: We host open model calls every few months to give up and coming models and influencers a chance to build their personal brands through the FRW community. It’s a win-win for everyone and it’s tons of fun.
Years in business: 4
Saturday’s Accessories – GloFx Goggles
To celebrate Space Mom’s performance, I just had to find a company that helps me connect with my inner Rezz. GloFx is a company known for their high-quality diffraction glasses and flow toy accessories. When I found their new Pixel Pro line, I knew I had to have a pair. These creative headwear pieces are fun, make for excellent photos and YES, you can see out of them. I will write a more detailed review of the goggles and the glasses, but for now, know that they are TOTALLY WORTH IT. Pro Tip: Bring that little remote control with you that come with the glasses. There are hundreds of fun LED options available with these bad boys and they make great conversation starters in the crowd.
More info on GlowFX:
Web address: glofx.com
Facebook URL: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialGloFX/
Twitter handle: @OfficialGloFX
Instagram handle: @GloFX
How did you get started in this business? Our CEO, Dan Watkins, discovered Diffraction grating film,and developed into the product line that makes up GloFX Glasses. As a side project, Dan sold novelty LED trinkets in nightclubs and on eBay between 2009-2011. He decided to make GloFX more than just a side project when he saw the opportunity to work hard for not just someone else, but for himself and what he loves to do. The first 3 true brand products were LED Orbits, Diffraction Glasses, and Fiber Optic Whips.
What is your favorite part about festival fashion? The best part about festival fashion is that there are no rules. You wear what you love, what you’re comfortable in, and while there are “trends,” nothing is ever truly “out of style.” You have a lot of freedom to express yourself, and festival fashion reinforces the carefree, beautiful aspects of the rave culture.
Who is one designer you’d love to collaborate with? We’d love to collaborate with Deadmau5 or Calvin Harris.
Whats your favorite piece in your own shop? What do you enjoy creating? Currently, the favorite product is Pixel Pro LED Goggles, but that’s always changing. Our team is constantly innovating new products and improving current ones, and we’re always super excited about each one individually.
Fun fact about your business: Our Space Whip Pro fiber optic whip was featured on MTV’s Amazingness. Check out the video HERE.
Years in business: GloFX has been officially in business for 6 years.