Life & Work with ANRI

Today we’d like to introduce you to ANRI.

Hi ANRI, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My artist name is Anri (ON-REE, like the word ornery) and the story of the ICT Fashion Tour came from the moments and feelings from my own art journey.

Right before the pandemic in late 2019, I was invited to create an art installation and exhibit my creations at a local business, TISSU Sewing Studio. I never really considered myself an artist and sometimes I have spells of imposter syndrome about the thought of it.

Nevertheless, after weeks of work and meditation, I created and hosted the exhibit and the multitude of feelings that resulted from the experience was worth it. The words that were shared by my family and friends, my models, and members of the community showed me that the connection between people and art existed.

Then the pandemic happened. Like the feeling of one’s first love, I wanted to recreate that incredible experience all over again, but this time I wanted to share it with the community.

To the ones who had missed opportunities and doubts like me. To the ones that need a little extra encouragement and a chance to try something new or something they wish they would have done but thought it was too late.

We’re still in the middle of a pandemic, although in the Midwest, restrictions are not as intense as they were in the beginning. People are slowly coming out of their homes to experience things again. ICT Fashion Tour started as an idea to share the fashion designs of our local creatives with the community.

Being a part of a community means making those connections showcasing their work involves collaborating with the owners of the locations, models, hair and makeup artists, music artists, etc. I wanted to be able to create small shows, and limited-time experiences to not only overload our artists (we all have so many things going on in our lives) but also make small moves to make big impacts.

I have been ever so grateful for all the connections I have made along the way to be able to create the experience of the ICT Fashion Tour for the local community. I couldn’t have done it without everyone.

This is still our first year, but we managed to recruit 12 local designers to showcase at our introductory show featuring 2-3 looks representing their style. Our pop-up runway shows occur all around town showcasing 4-6 designers with up to 5 looks per pop-up.

All our locations this first year have represented a place that best represented our community (small business, college, downtown, rural/suburb, and historic). Each of our pop-up shows has touched a different area of our community and continues to get even bigger.

We have a couple more pop-ups in the summer before our final show for this year’s selection of designers (and guests) on September 17, 2022, at TempleLive. We are so excited to share the journey and the work of our designers with everyone and cannot wait for our initiative to evolve.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Life is never a smooth road and if it was, then it would be pretty boring. We are still currently on the road to completing our first year of events through the ICT Fashion Tour.

There have been (and definitely will be) plenty of successes and failures along our journey and each experience has been a teachable moment on how to create a better experience for not only our audience but also our showrunners.

Since we host monthly pop-up shows, the turnaround time to communicate and put together events is quick. So far, our feedback has been mostly positive, and we are always excited and ready for our next event.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I have only quite recently come to terms that I am an artist? I am self-taught and generally dip my metaphorical toes in the realms of fashion, photography, textile art, and creative direction.

I find myself volunteering in the community whether it be with civic engagement or within the arts. In the past couple of years, I’ve found myself not only venturing into creating events and initiatives, but also exploring my own artistic endeavors as well.

I’m proud of all the meaningful connections I have made in my life thus far and believe that my passion for my community and continuous efforts to improve and expand my experiences in the arts sets me from others.

Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
My advice is to always have patience and grace.

It always looks good to jump on trends but slowing down and focusing on quality shows your audience your intention and attention to detail.

Lastly, something I always forget to do myself no matter what is to always remember to take care of yourself.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ictfashiontour.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ictfashiontour
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ictfashiontour
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ictfashiontour
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@ictfashiontour

Image Credits
Scott Huynh Design, Lucky Photo, Odyssey Photography, Darrin Hackney Photography, Tyia, Britten, Sarah, Amelia, Jessica, Paige, Christina/Shaina/Maya, Aayana/Dawnesha/Tamara Designers: Sydney Lenox, Nina Winter, Byrd & Blue, ANRI, Milkweed Clothier, ANRI, Chismosa Company, and Christopher Gulick