BY DC CUEVA
The state of Florida: it is many things to many of us -- starting with the joke that the shape of the state itself looks almost like a private part. To some, it's that state whose tropical climate this time of year sees a scorching hot sun, high temperatures and humidity, and an always present risk for severe weather headlined by it being located in hurricane alley. To others, it's that state with a rather different approach when it comes to politics that's made it both a laughingstock and a haven in this divisive America... just the actions of its governor and a notable resident of a district in Palm Beach will suffice.
Following the Memorial Day weekend, South Florida welcomed back the fashion industry for the first time in twenty-four months when Miami Fashion Week took place in early June. And before the eyes of the industry in this multi-billion-dollar business turn to the major shows in New York and Europe, earlier this month the big wigs again returned for a couple notable fashion shows taking place just before the major autumn shows -- and where the focus turned to everyone's favorite kind of clothing in this part of the country: the swimwear. And there, we find three leading ladies in MTV Reality land get to strut their stuff on the runway, and in one's case, follow in the lead of an all-time queen in this world.
The last time this site delved into this fashion world was six years ago: five members of the cast of Season 4 of Are You The One? got to experience the Fall 2016 edition of New York Fashion Week. Well before her Challenge days, Tori Deal got to walk the runway of one of the many shows that take place after Labor Day, being joined by the man she schooled in a rap battle in Giovanni Rivera, fellow musician Prosper Muna, and one who does just about everything in TV, music and everything else, Asaf Goren (more on him later here). Also in New York was Julia Rose, who also attended NYFW before she took her talents to the Hollywood Sign, the World Series and into Jake Paul's arms.
Over a long weekend in mid-July, South Florida played host to its second week of fashion in over a month when Miami Swim Week took over town: dozens and dozens of runway shows, after parties and the like at venues throughout Greater Miami. History was made when fitness icon Denise Austin, now aged 65, got to walk alongside her daughter Katie - who made this year's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue at a runway show at PARAISO Miami Beach. Lisa Nicole Cloud of Bravo's Married to Medicine also took to the catwalk, as a theme of this year's Swim Week was to highlight inclusion and diversity when it came to the two stars of each fashion show: the designers and the models.
Four years ago, Angela Babicz was the very first one to enter the Ex On The Beach villa when she came onto that first season in Hawaii in the very same house that hosted last year's Love Island season. She made plenty of buzz on the last-ever season of Bad Girls Club, and she picked up right where she left off in the drama category as she became the series' only two-time single. Of course, Angie fell in love on our MTV air in a certain Young Buck as their relationship had just about as many twists and turns as any good romantic reality love story -- which included a trip to Dr. Phil. She finally got out of that toxic relationship after a couple years, and once again she was happy to be a single lady.
Both Angela and Kyra were invited to come down to Miami for Swim Week, and for the opportunity to walk down the runway at one of those many fashion shows that weekend. One of them involved a lady who has already achieved aplenty in the music and entertainment worlds just before turning 34 back during the springtime.
Even before music went on hiatus in the pandemic -- including a change of labels to the Warner group, Jessie had ambitions of expanding beyond music and TV to also becoming an entrepreneur. In 2018, she collaborated with fast-fashion brand JustFab to create a new women's clothing line entitled Kittenish, which incorporates her Southern roots in creating a new kind of style brand that stays true to her aesthetic. A year after its launch, Kittenish opened brick-and-mortar stores in Nashville, Dallas, Destin, FL (Nilsa of Floribama Shore's hometown), and then this past year in Tampa... where by then it has expanded into accessories and then into swimwear.
A YouTube video description describes the Kittenish company as: "From a night-out with the girls, to a slow Sunday morning at home, we are inspired by everyday life mixed with contemporary fashion. The brand mixes flirty feminine with a sassy edge." The dictionary meaning behind the word that bears the name of Jessie's fashion brand reads, "like a kitten; lively, and flirtatious." It was no surprise that the fashion show itself reflected both of those as Kittenish made its biggest splash yet in South Florida.
The other came from the reality world... and if you got to watch the last Ex On The Beach season prior to Kyra's two years ago, one of the singles who came to the Peak of Love was Naked Brothers Bandmate Allie DeMeco. The Nickelodeon alum reemerged into public view months before when USA Network revived trendsetting reality dating show Temptation Island, where one of Season 1's biggest romances belonged to that of Evan Smith & Morgan Lolar, who he chose over his girlfriend Kaci Campbell... and eventually they got engaged -- but that didn't last for long after cheating charges were brought up.
Morgan, Elle, Angela, Kyra and the rest of the girls got to enjoy that show down the runway, and when it was all done the Bad Girl captioned on Instagram, "Baby’s first runway 🥹❤️🔥 I am so beyond blessed and grateful to have walked in #miamiswimweek for @kittenish! Big thank you to @jessiejamesdecker and my team at @zoozgroup for not only giving me this opportunity but making it absolutely unforgettable. Love you all! 🫶🏼" And Kyra added, "Life is wild!!! Thank you so much for having me @kittenish and thank you to my team @zoozgroup 🙌🙌 love y’all ⚡️"
🌴 🌴 🌴
To paraphrase that old adage, it's one thing to get to walk up and down the runway as a model sporting those new outfits, but it's another to actually be the boss lady in charge when it comes to having a clothing line that you got to design, and which bears your name. So many in the fashion world know that feeling so much, and it's one that the young lady from a Florida beach town is aspiring to do.
While The Challenge and Ex On The Beach boast all-star casts in every iteration of their shows, Siesta Key represents the total opposite: the cast makeup remains very much the same from each season, just like any docuseries the focuses on those who call the same place home. The first two shows are focused on competition and dating, while the ladder is a docusoap born out a tradition that gave birth eighteen years ago when our last subject was just a youngster growing up over in Sarasota.
One of the biggest moments of Season 4 came earlier on in the first half of that split season, when the cast (sans newlywed gossip queen Chloe Long) flew off to the Caribbean for a month in a remote island in Saint Vincent & the Grenadines. There, Jules got to spend quality time with Sam and help plot her fashion takeover with social influencer Serena Kerrigan of social dating show Let's F'in Date. But in one night of chaos, the Key almost became one of those standard MTV shows -- that is, fireworks going off... or in this case, it's something one of our subjects above knows very well from her reality past.
When Brandon Gomes got to debut his music video for "Malibu," the premiere party became a scene out of that other MTV Florida show: Jordana and BG's ex Camilla Cattaneo got into it with the ladder getting pushed into the pool. But the biggest moment was one that didn't even get shown on the show: the beef that involved her and rival model Kelsey Owens where Juliette decided to lay a slap on the St. Louisan -- a year after she got into a fight with Chloe at the housewarming for her and Kels. That led to the queen leaving the island early, and if she was on any other MTV show other than that and Floribama, she'd be evicted... good thing it's not a Challenge house that she'd be calling home here.
Juliette has been working hard on putting together a clothing label that wouldn't be just any. Yes, JMP the boutique luxury collection does have styles for men, women and kids... but she also had in mind the reasoning that her swimwear be "thoughtfully designed to fit every woman." That includes plus-size women who have been part of the conversation of late thanks in part to the success that those like Lizzo and Melissa McCarthy have achieved the past few years... and seeing what Ashley Graham, Robyn Lawley and other plus-size models strut their stuff on the runway prove that they belong too, all during a time where inclusion has been an important word.
Those who have been watching Siesta Key has seen the evolution of the JMP label from conception to realization, including a fashion show, photo shoots and the like as Juliette's dream has reached 125k followers on its Instagram page. And at Miami Swim Week, she and co-designer Jaymi Zentner Washburn hosted its major fashion show debut as the fall 2022 and 2023 collections debuted for the first time, styled by Rebecca Weinberg who styled outfits for Sex and the City. And as it was for the show with Angela and Kyra, Miss USA also joined in on the fun on the runway.
The queen of the Key captioned on IG below, "I have finally had a moment to process this last week and am so grateful for everyone and everything that has led up to this!! I started crying in bed today looking through all the photos🥹 thank you @jayzendesigns @david_kelleher for the being the best partners!! @gwenwunder @darakaye @paraisomiamibeach for making this possible and @rebeccaweinbergstyle for being the best stylist and making me laugh through the nerves!! And @siestakey for helping me get to this point in my life. I really can’t believe this is my life sometimes even when everything gets crazy."
And then, there's this interesting twist of a postscript to Swim Week with these MTV stars: when we tune into Season 5 of Siesta Key in the new year - or later this year if we're lucky, we will see one era come to an end when the cast will reportedly take their talents from the Sarasota area to South Beach.
The Siesta cast has welcomed newbies and waved farewell to old ones during these five years that we have welcomed them into our hearts, and we know what happened the first time out. And it was after the Season 4 finale earlier this year that Garrett Miller announced on Instagram that he wouldn't return after he and Makenna got engaged.
But this past Friday (August 5), this bombshell dropped on Instagram involving one of the other models in this group, and who was the other notable model to walk in Juliette's major fashion show debut. Yes, it will be quite the prelude to our return to paradise.
- I AM DC
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