You know the scene in Lady and the Tramp where it’s just two dogs in love in an alley, with the moonlight and a plate of spaghetti? Alleys do have a certain charm, and, as in the case of local designer Trisha Hoke, they can be downright inspirational. Hoke’s latest signature collection will take a walk through one tonight during the Cher Ami Back Alley Soirée and Fashion Show, set to sashay al fresco behind Beatrice & Woodsley, 38 South Broadway, beginning at 5 p.m. this evening.

“I took my inspiration from my studio,” Hoke says. “It was just a nondescript door in an alley, and when I stepped out, everything I saw was urban gray.” That, she adds, suited her spare design philosophy: “Transformable, artistic clothes that bring style to an accessible place, using nice and simple fabrics that you’re used to, and stick to the neutrals.” They’re city-friendly clothes that can be made up quickly and easily to order, and are therefore an economical and sustainable couture product.

And they’ll look just right when models show them off informally, Parisian style, among a crowd seated at tables amid loungey lighting in what’s technically a parking lot. Come and go as you like until 9 p.m.; Hoke is also encouraging audience members to take and submit cell-phone photos of the proceedings that could win them a gift certificate and inclusion of the images on Hoke’s website. Go to http://triciahoke.com/news for more information.
Thu., June 10, 5-9 p.m., 2010