We are pleased to announce Bizarre Couture as our 2020 Fashion Guest of Honor!

The fashion visionaries based in Tulsa, Oklahoma have traveled all this way to be the Fashion Guests of Honor for AnimeIowa 2020! Their studio specializes in mixing time periods, motifs, cultures, and textiles to create stunning acts of fashion. They have been invited to headline the J-Fashion show based on their particularly Japanese fashion inspired work, which often draws from Visual Kei and other Harajuku street fashions. The duo officially started designing together three years ago and, since then, the two have been creating works of art and leveling up with each new garment. With 20+ years of sewing experience behind each piece, these two are not afraid of creating looks from the wearable all the way to the most avant-garde. They have been featured at other fashion events such as Paradiso: A Lolita Fashion Event, and Northwest Arkansas Fashion Week.

While by night we know them as Bizarre Couture, Ariel and Billie are newlyweds and engineers by day. Ariel is a Mechanical Design Engineer, while Billie is working towards a degree in Environmental Engineering. If they have a moment to breathe, they can be found caring for their pet rabbit. 

The designers want Anime Iowa to know that, “We strongly believe that there’s no one look or feature that is beautiful, but rather that everyone is beautiful in their own way, and they should have the freedom to express that how they choose.” This quote is flawlessly executed by the brand’s diverse portfolio. 

You can see many of their looks at the Fashion Show presented by the AnimeIowa Fashion Department. There will also be a trunk show featuring the work of all of the participants after the show.