On the fashion forecast: snow without the drive to Tahoe. Don't believe it? Read on.

After the crush of the holidays and the onslaught of shopping and style events that come with the season, the New Year hits and, this year as in years past, it takes a lot to get local fashion insiders revved up this month (unless planning and prepping for trips to next month’s New York Fashion Week counts). So it’s notable when a January event has fashion-minded San Franciscans buzzing weeks before it takes place, and even more so when that event is an invite-only affair with a strict white dress code.


The fete in question is the second annual SNOW party from the San Francisco Bay Area Fashion Network, and it’s quickly becoming the invite to score for the evening of Jan. 29, when nine local labels will show all-white mini collections in the soaring atrium of the One Market Street building before a crowd of onlookers dressed in snow-hued ensembles. Last year’s event greeted guests with faux snow blowing around the party’s entrance and unfolded into a monochrome sea of attendees sipping wine (not surprisingly, the vast majority skipped the red).

This year, a larger crowd of approximately 500 is expected to turn out for the show, which features a solid designer line-up of names, many of whom rarely show their work on local runways, including gr.dano, Verrieres & Sako, Joseph Domingo, Dcepcion, Daniel Sudar, Bacca Da Silva, Acta Non Verba, Cari Borja and Dahae Kim. Interactive photo shoots and a silent auction curated by Princess Fati Farmanfarmaian are an added draw.

Intrigued? You’ve got just under two weeks to cozy up to a member of the SFBAFN to request an invitation and mine your closet for the perfect outfit (personally, we’d love to see someone go big and arrive in a wedding dress….after all, most are far too beautiful to be worn only once).

Photo by Lorraine Sanders: a Bacca Da Silva look from last year’s show