Chrissy Cavotta has a Renaissance woman spirit about her.
She hosts formal runway galas at City Hall. She links aspiring models and fashion photographers in a Vogue-themed club on West 6th. She decorates rooftop bars in summer camp attire—marshmallows, Bigfoot—channeling millennial nostalgia.
Over the weekend, Cavotta hosted (and of course modeled in) her first swimwear-themed fashion show at Inferno in the Flats East Bank, where 11 local designers and 62 models debuted metallic bikinis and boxing-adjacent swim trunks. With a supremely diverse cast, Cavotta welcomed the Summer Solstice with a wake-up call to Clevelanders: Forgo the muted blues and light beiges on Lake Erie this June, July and August. Go vivid instead. Go floppy sunhat. Go meshy orange.
Cavotta’s next event—”the biggest, grandest fashion show in Cleveland history”—will be, yes, at City Hall’s Rotunda, on July 14.
D’Asia Simone & NicNacc Credit: Mark OpreaAssane of Tam Tam Magic Credit: Mark OpreaNicole Brown wearing a Brijanay bikini and sunhat. Credit: Mark OpreaMarnita Robinson wearing a Knot Nani bikini and cover up. Credit: Mark OpreaEmily Bare wearing a Knot Nani bikini. Credit: Mark OpreaRaina Tiffiny wearing Sey’Chelles. Credit: Mark OpreaBrady Shaw wearing ARC trunks. Credit: Mark OpreaNicole Brown wearing Sey’Chelles. Credit: Mark OpreaKatie Sever wearing Delphine. Credit: Mark OpreaLo Hawkins wearing ARC swim trunks. Credit: Mark OpreaPaulina Rivera wearing a Brijanay hat and one-piece. Credit: Mark OpreaLarisa Irodia wearing a Sey’Chelles bikini and boots. Credit: Mark OpreaLouis Jimenez wearing Gurl be Accountable bikini by He Loves Curves. Credit: Mark OpreaLouis Jimenez wearing Gurl be Accountable by He Loves Curves. Credit: Mark OpreaShomari Bryant wearing Bettina Wadè trunks. Credit: Mark OpreaNicole Brown wearing Gurl be Accountable crop top and bikini by He Loves Curves. Credit: Mark OpreaAsha Nunn wearing Seychelle’s Clothing. Credit: Mark OpreaAsha Nunn wearing He Loves Curves. Credit: Mark OpreaChristopher Woods wearing a shirt by Anderson Couture. Credit: Mark OpreaSionna Vrabcova wearing Sey’Chelles. Credit: Mark OpreaLarisa Irodia wearing Sey’Chelles. Credit: Mark OpreaOlivia wearing Sey’Chelles. Credit: Mark OpreaEmily Fowler wearing Gurl be Accountable by He Loves Curves bikini and cover up. Credit: Mark OpreaDeja Mitchell wearing Sey’Chelles. Credit: Mark OpreaMaryam Hargrove wearing Sey’Chelles metallic bikini. Credit: Mark OpreaAlanna Bond wearing a Brijanay one-piece. Credit: Mark OpreaEmily Rogers leopard print swimsuit and cowboy hat from Hope & Joy Collective. Credit: Mark Oprea
Mark Oprea is a staff writer at Scene. He's covered Cleveland for the past decade, and has contributed to TIME, NPR, Narratively, the Pacific Standard and the Cleveland Magazine. He's the winner of two Press Club awards.
