Westword was the first weekly publication in the country to hire a marijuana critic, and now it's announcing another first: High Style.
On Thursday, March 5, 2020, High Style will fuse cannabis-inspired fashion, education and wellness into one amazing evening of curated, interactive programming focused on style, substance and sustainability. The three floors of the McNichols Building in Civic Center Park will be filled with fashion shows, presentations, panels and an open marketplace where the canna-curious can interact with high-end hemp and cannabis brands.
There will be passed hors d'oeuvres and samplings of CBD and spirits throughout the event. (Sorry, no cannabis consumption on site.)
Tickets are now on sale at westwordhighstyle.com! General admission tickets are $30. A VIP ticket, $75, gets you early entry into High Style, special seating for the two fashion shows and access to the VIP lounge throughout the event, with coat check, unlimited full-pour cocktails and an incredible gift bag.
High Style will run from 6:30 until 10 p.m., with VIP admission starting at 6. Please note that this event is strictly 21+.
Keep reading for more on the designers and speakers who will be featured at High Style:
Korto Momolu, Presenting Designer
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Liberia-born fashion designer and stylist Korto Momolu (pronounced Cut-toe Mo-mo-lu) is stamping her global brand on fashion-forward women’s wear and accessories. Korto is inspired by her African roots and celebrates the essence of her rich heritage through the use of skins, mixed prints and traditional, luxury fabrics. A graduate of L’Academie des Couturiers Design Institute in Ottawa, Ontario, Korto also studied at the renowned Parsons School of Design in New York City while working as an independent fashion designer. Prior to arriving in Canada in 1990, Korto and her family had to flee Liberia following a civil war.
In 2014, she competed on the third season of Project Runway All Stars and finished in second place; during the most recent New York Fashion Week, Korto unveiled her spring/summer 2019 collection, which was a tribute to her late friend and former Project Runway All Stars castmate Mychael Knight, who passed away in 2017. Momolu was highlighted as one of the “Top 5 Designers to Watch” by New York magazine, and currently makes her home in Little Rock, Arkansas, with her husband and two children.
At High Style, Korto will showcase her Women Grow collection, a line also shown at New York Fashion Week in collaboration with Women Grow, the largest network of women who are leaders in the cannabis and hemp industries. Korto Momulu for Women Grow will also have a pop-up shop, and Korto Momulu will also hold a meet-and-greet.
Pact
Pact is creating the world’s first guilt-free fashion brand. The Boulder-based company is doing this by focusing on 100 percent organic cotton that’s grown without fertilizers and crafted without harmful chemicals. That’s all part of Pact’s commitment to sustainability, which the company has honored since 2009. And the result is not just guilt-free fashion, it’s downright cozy.
Pact started by making organic cotton underwear, and now it will outfit your whole life. “We offer conscious, valued and versatile clothing and home goods that are sustainable, essential and organic,” Pact promises. Not only that, but it offers ways to recycle or reuse your old clothing, towels and linens, helping you to consume consciously. This is fashion for all, Fair Trade Factory Certified, ensuring that those who make the clothes are equal to those who wear them.
At High Style, Pact will be showcasing its winter collection in the opening fashion show.
Erin Colvin for High Society Collection
Erin Colvin (formerly Erin Rose Gardner) is a Portland, Oregon-based designer who focuses on jewelry as both the format and subject of her work, always searching for meaning through material culture. She studied metalsmithing and jewelry at the University of Oregon and was awarded a prestigious Windgate Fellowship.
Today her work is part of the permanent collection of the Newark Museum and has been exhibited internationally at galleries in Amsterdam, England Germany and across the United States. She was the recipient of an Individual Artist Fellowship from the Oregon Arts Commission.
At High Style, Erin will be showcasing the High Society Collection, full of handmade with a subtle cannabis theme. She’ll also have a pop-up shop on the third floor, so that High Style attendees can buy her work directly.
Alpine Hemp Company/Bryan DeHaven
Bryan DeHaven graduated from the Art Institute of Colorado and was a successful snowboard shop owner, a sponsored skateboarder and a retail merchandiser before he became involved in the cannabis industry. For over a decade, he contributing award-winning designs and sourcing to that industry, while also engaging in hemp advocacy.
In 2019, DeHaven founded the Alpine Hemp Company, supplying the action sports community with high-quality, sustainable hemp apparel and CDB products.
The Alpine Hemp Company is providing sustainable hemp gift bags for all High Style guests and will host a pop-up shop. DeHaven himself will be featured on the “Cannabis Trends in Fashion, Beauty & Wellness” panel.
Matthew Morris Salon & Skincare
While Matthew Morris currently resides in New York City, where he serves as Artistic Director for L’Oreal, he owns three Matthew Morris Salon & Skincare locations in Denver: South Broadway, RiNo and Belleview Station.
“We understand that hair is an artistic self-expression of individuality and brand identity for our clients,” his company says. “Our stylists provide this professional and luxurious experience with exceptional customer service and sought-after products, backed by constant education and innovation.”
See that in action at High Style, where members of the Matthew Morris team will create the hair and makeup looks for the fashion show models.
Robyn Griggs Lawrence
The author of The Cannabis Kitchen Cookbook: Feel-Good Food for Home Cooks and Pot in Pans: A History of Eating Cannabis, natural health and lifestyle expert Robyn Griggs Lawrence educates people on how to safely prepare and imbibe sustainably grown cannabis. She does this not just through her books, but through workshops (including a cannabis cooking course for Green Flower Media) and catered events.
Lawrence was the editor of Natural Home magazine for eleven years and introduced Western readers to the Japanese art of finding beauty in imperfection in her books The Wabi-Sabi House and Simply Imperfect: Revisiting the Wabi-Sabi House.
At High Style, Lawrence will do a CBD cooking demonstration followed by a Q&A; all of her books will be featured at her pop-up, where she will greet guests and sign copies.
Jane West
Jane West is the CEO of the global cannabis lifestyle brand Jane West, where she develops cannabis products, accessories and home goods that enable women to experience the benefits of cannabis. Jane has emerge as a prominent figure in mainstream cannabis culture since the launch of her consumption-friendly cannabis events company, Edible Events, in 2014. An experienced executive, West is committed to changing the face of women in cannabis, both as consumers and leaders; she’s also the Founder of Women Grow, the cannabis industry’s largest professional networking organization.
At High Style, West will conduct a Q&A with Robyn Griggs Lawrence after her cooking demonstration, and will join her at the book signing. (West wrote the foreword to The Cannabis Kitchen Cookbook.) West will also contribute an item to the High Style VIP gift bags.
Kristi Blustein of KHUS+KHUS Modern Herbal Fusion
Not your typical herbalist, Kristi Blustein founded KHUS+KHUS Modern Herbal Fusion to focus on using plants to support growth, health and expansion of consciousness — mainly because she used them on herself. She is in Ayurvedic specialist and received her education from the California College of Ayurveda, earning one of the highest certifications available in the U.S. in Ayurvedic medicine.
Her botanic-based beauty line employs classic formulas based on Ayurvedic medicine to create innovative concepts in skincare, feeding the body plant nutrition through the skin. KHUS+KHUS includes CBD as one of its many beneficial ingredients.
At High Style, Blustein will be a speaker on the “Cannabis Trends in Fashion, Beauty & Wellness” panel.
Vox
L.A.-based singer/songwriter/producer vox (Latin for "voice" and pronounced "wokes") has no problem making herself heard these days.
She just released her first EP on indie tastemaker label Arts & Crafts, I Am Not a God, on October 4. Confirmed in the Lutheran church as a teenager, she struggled with depression and self-doubt, and that experience influenced this EP. "I grew up deeply religious," vox says. "This project has uncovered all the ways those ideas I was taught fucked with my self-worth and thus my ability to stand up for myself and my body. I really want to create a safe space for anyone who feels shame in their humanity and imperfection to begin unpacking and start healing. That's what making this music has started for me."
On I Am Not a God, she unpacks a lifetime of emotion, constructing a captivating and immersive world in which she reflects on love, womanhood, religion and healing.
Vox's complex approach to music has earned glowing coverage from Dazed, Complex, Mixmag, Metal, Vogue Germany, Pigeons & Planes, Interview, i-D, Stereogum, Paper, NYLON and Flaunt, as well as a cover story in Broccoli magazine. Last year she performed at Sónar Barcelona, as well as London Fashion Week, where she played at the Sarabande Foundation Gala and walked for Roberts | Wood. This year, she'll be performing at High Style, sharing her passions for cannabis, veganism and fashion.
Find out more at westwordhighstyle.com.
Update: This story was updated on December 11 to reflect a new date for High Style.
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