Root for Philly native Kristin Haskins Simms on the new season of Project Runway, premiering tonight at 9 p.m. on Lifetime. (Photo courtesy of Lifetime Television)

Philly 360° Insider Rakia Reynolds caught up with Philadelphia native Kristin Haskins Simms, a contestant on the new season of Lifetime’s Project Runway, and discovered the Strangefruit designer’s favorite Philly musicians, restaurants and of course, shops.

Head over to our sister site, Philly360.com, to read the entire exclusive interview.

Exclusive Interview with Project Runway Designer, Kristin Haskins Simms [Philly 360°]

Katacomb

Sick of blending in with the hundreds of Philadelphians who own the same Urban Outfitters dress as you? Me too. For a stand out outfit, look no further than The Katacomb: Vintage for your next shopping trip.

Brooke Dillon’s “boutique” offers a luxe, appointment-only shopping experience amongst private residences on 15th and Pine. Customers can make a one on one appointment with Brooke or have a shopping day with a few friends. She strives to keep the experience intimate, and can help you find anything you might need.

The lower floor of the space showcases a hallway with several closets of clothing (organized by color) leading into a large showroom with tables and racks of her one of a kind finds. Many of her items are from the past collections of Oscar de la Renta, YSL, and Dior, to name a few, but she does not limit her buying to high end and has pieces in a wide range of prices. Brooke goes on buying trips to Los Angeles and other locations, ensuring that all pieces are truly unique. Not limited to clothing, her showroom includes belts, sunglasses, and purses.

Personal favorite pieces included a bold floral maxi dress from the 1960s, brown leather Oscar de la Renta pencil skirt circa 1980, and a Studio 54 worthy black and gold sequined butterfly top. With so many beautiful pieces in excellent condition, your biggest problem will be choosing just a few!

Besides her vintage wears, Brooke makes commissioned coats, with the fur (real or faux) and lining (a variety of vintage fabrics) completely customizable. She also sells accessory pieces by local designers including reworked vintage jewelry and creative key keepers featuring silk scarves and antique keys to ensure you’ll never lose yours again (handy!).

All pieces are organically dry cleaned before entering the immaculate showroom, so they’re ready to wear. To add to the “perfect fit” experience at The Katacomb, custom alterations are free, ensuring that you’ll wear them well for years to come. For more information on how to explode this ‘katacomb’, visit Brooke’s official website.

Outside the Piazza, Photo by M. McClellan

This Saturday and Sunday, July 10th & 11th, is the official grand opening weekend of the Market at the Piazza, a new arts-crafts-clothing-food-etc bazaar that will continue year around within the Piazza at Schmidt’s courtyard.

Participating vendors include Elizabeth Bayu, Duke & Winston, Heart City Vintage, Showroom 77, Flygirrl, and dozens more. The new open air market runs from noon til 7pm.

This is in addition to the outdoor farmer’s market that runs every weekend from 10am to 3pm, where you can pick up local, sustainably grown food.

Piazza at Schmidt’s [ visitphilly.com ]

Love Park Statue, Photo by J. Smith for GPTMC

Tomorrow, clothing designer Sarah Van Aken, the talented woman behind SA VA, is hosting an outdoor runway show featuring new Summer fashions in Love Park.

The event kicks off at 6pm and runs til 8pm, with models showing off the latest fashions and Square 1682 dishing out some nibbles.

Can’t make the show? You might want to check out some of the new styles at Van Aken’s flagship store, located on 17th and Sansom in Center City.

SA VA Runaway Show in Love Park
Saturday, June 19th @ 7pm

Love Park [ www.fairmountpark.org ]

This Saturday, June 12th, Lobo Mau will be hosting their Summer trunk show at their studio in Northern Liberties.

The trunk show will run from 6pm to 9pm, showing off Lobo’s latest clothing and accessories. Guests can look forward to cheap drinks ($2 beer, $3 wine) and great clothes.

Andrea Pippins recently stopped by Lobo Mau’s studio and took photos of the designers in their studio at work. Check them out!

Colab Studios
997 Marshall Street, Philadelphia, PA 19123
www.lobomaudesigns.com

Tommi Life Style Salon in Center City

Located in Center City, Tommi is a full-service salon, spa and photography studio all in one place– a first for Philadelphia.

One step into Tommi and you’ll know you’re in for luxe treatment. The interior is elegant, with cool, calming, serene colors and sleek hardwood floors. A mix of beautiful artwork from InLiquid and in-house photographic masterpieces decorate the walls of the three-floor boutique.

This one of a kind boutique comes equipped with a one of a kind staff, who are knowledgeable, friendly and attentive. Thrilled about this new venture, each staff member exudes a passion about the products and services at Tommi– each ensuring a memorable visit no matter what service you choose. Whether you’re looking for photography, a spa treatment, or treating yourself in their beautiful salon.

Tommi specializes in wedding photography, offering a more contemporary take on traditional bridal photography. The photos are couture and editorial– think Vogue! The talents of the three main photographers and staff don’t just end at the aisle. The upscale photography services expand to include portrait, family, intimates, corporate and more. All photographs are completed and printed at Tommi. Free consultations are offered for anyone interested in a photography session.

Located on the third floor next to the salon, Tommi’s spa has a nail bar, pedicure station, four tranquil, private rooms and a private shower. From indulgent massages and facials to non-traditional nail care and natural dermabrasion, each treatment is customized to your needs– even down to the essential oils and pure plant extracts used. Each client’s treatment is different, based on a series of non-invasive questions asked by the spa staff.

There’s something special about the salon experience at Tommi. It may be the diligence and attention to detail by the stylists or the stunning end result from such service. With free, in-depth consultations before, each service is completely customized to you. Stylist Bruce Slemmer keeps lifestyle, face shape and hair type in mind when he plans and explains the service perfect for your individual hair needs.

Try any of the boutique’s multiple services separately or combine them for an ultimate experience in one of the customized packages offered. Open seven days a week (after 5 pm on weekdays), the boutique caters to all of its clients’ needs– including work schedules. So ditch your ho-hum salon routine and try something personal and indulgent at Tommi.

Tommi Life Style Boutique
718 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107
(215) 238-9922
www.tommistudio.com

Inside the Arcadia Boutique

This First Friday, one of my favorite little boutiques is hosting a fun shopping & art event, inspired by the iconic pin up models of the 50′s through the 70′s.

The event, entitled Good Vibrations, features artwork by Mallory Lawson (a recent graduate of Moore) and Dennis Coyle. From 6pm to 9pm, you can check out their work, and enjoy a Lash & Lip Party by eyelash experts Touch of Blush.

Expect cocktails, snacks, plenty of mingling, and a 15% off store-wide sale.

Arcadia Boutique
819 A N. 2nd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19123
215.667.8099
www.arcadiaboutique.com

Third Street Habit

On Saturday, May 22nd, from 11am to 6pm, Third Street Habit is hosting a trunk show of exotic artist Chan Luu’s jewelry and scarf collection. For the one-day-only event, all accessories in the shop will be discounted 15% off. Mimosas are included, but prepare yourself for a sugar coma…

Eager customers waiting for cupcakes at the Buttercream Truck

The Buttercream Cupcake Truck has agreed to park right out front for the day! All customers will receive a “Cupcake Voucher” good for any cupcake.

Each of globetrotter Chan Luu’s edgy designs originates from a story inspired by nature and world cultures. Join the ranks of celebrity admirers Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, Rihanna, Reese Witherspoon, and many others, and treat yourself to a masterfully crafted accessory (or two).

Third Street Habit has carried the designer’s work since it opened in 2004; I guess there’s a reason it was voted Best Women’s Boutique by Philadelphia Magazine and Top Visionary Boutique in the United States by Lucky Magazine. Happy shopping.

Third Street Habit
153 North 3rd Street, Philadelphia, PA‎ 19106
(215) 925-5455‎
www.thirdstreethabit.com

Inside the Spa, Photo courtesy Rescue Rittenhouse

As the weather gets warmer and hemlines get shorter, the desire to really pamper yourself is sometimes overwhelming. Manicure, pedicure, waxing, facial, massage? Why yes, I don’t mind if I do. And if you’re really looking for the celebrity treatment, be sure to make an appointment at Rescue Rittenhouse Spa.

Tucked inside the Medical Tower at 255 South 17th Street, Rescue is the premier skin care spa on the East Coast and, luckily for Philadelphians, it’s right here in our own city. When you step off the elevator into their 2nd floor establishment, you are immediately checked in at the front desk, ushered to a plush seating area, and asked if you would like coffee, tea or a cookie. Yes, I’ll have two of each, thank you.

Soaps and Candles @ Rescue

And while you wait for your appointment there are shelves and tables filled with the most beautiful skincare products, candles, soaps, lotions and cosmetics for your perusal.

If your appointment at Rescue is for a skin treatment, you will receive a comprehensive consultation about your skin, a treatment tailored specifically to you and a customized list of products that will help transform the skin you have, to the skin you want. One of the their most popular service is the Bio-Lift Facial, which combines the healing effects of serums and botanicals with non-invasive electrical currents.

Rescue Rittenhouse's Pedicure Station

If you’re not in the market for a skin treatment try a bikini wax starting at $30, a pedicure starting at $40, or a Swedish massage starting at $60.

If you act quickly, you can still capitalize on Rescue’s Mother’s Day Specials that are running until May 31st. These include a “Mother Knows Best” Bio-Lift Facial plus a manicure/pedicure for only $180 (without special: $215). Or a Harmony Essence Massage and a manicure for $100 (without special: $125). Rescue Rittenhouse also offers Gift Certificates for all of their services as well as their retail products.

Visit their website for a complete list of services and pricing.

Rescue Rittenhouse
255 South 17th Street (2nd Floor), Philadelphia PA 19103
(215) 772-2766
www.rescuerittenhousespa.com

Photography On Display @ the Bus Stop Boutique

Now, through May 28th, Bus Stop is hosting the People of Ethiopia Exhibit, a photographic glimpse into the lives of the country’s people. The exhibit displays the works of Alden Blyth, a local architect who focuses his practice on low-income, inner-city housing. Blyth, who became fascinated by the people of Ethiopia during his travels throughout the country, captures a culture with honesty and integrity in his photographs hung along the walls of the boutique.

The 26 photos pull viewers into intimate moments of the exhibit’s subjects. Amongst the colorful, breath-taking photos with a vibrant Ethiopian backdrop, you’ll face the candid life of various tribe members and experience special events like wedding negotiations and church holiday services.

Oliberté Footwear & Photographs @ Bus Stop

Feel like taking a piece of this exhibit home? All photos are on sale for under $100– even when framed and matted. Want to walk out with even more? In concurrence with the exhibit, the Bus Stop is selling Oliberté Footwear, eco-ethical urban footwear made with leather from Ethiopia and–a first for footwear–natural rubber from Liberia.

For under $100, you can help create and sustain more jobs for inhabitants of Ethipoia. The shoes, which are only sold in small, socially-conscious boutiques like Bus Stop, are comfortable and stylish.

Though the shoes may stay, the exhibit ends with a closing reception on May 28th from 5:30-8:30 p.m.

Bus Stop Boutique
750 South 4th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147-3121
(215) 627-2357
www.busstopboutique.com

Outside the Piazza, Photo by M. McClellan

The Piazza at Schmidt’s is showing no signs of slowing down when it comes to fun events outdoors.

Earlier this month there was Restaurant Weekend and the Equality Forum’s SundayOUT!. And now, the Piazza is hosting their first annual Fashion Weekend.

From 9am to 3pm, on May 15th and 16th, visitors to the Piazza will be able to meet local designers, shop at local boutiques, and catch a live fashion show at noon.

Participating designers and boutiques include Duke & Wilson, Showroom 77, Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, Posh Boutique, and many, many more.

Piazza at Schmidt’s [ visitphilly.com ]

Models On the Runaway @ the Philadelphia University Fashion Show

Vibrant garments, charmeuse gowns, and inspiring designs streamed down the runaway for A Tribute to Elegance on Saturday, May 8t, at Philadelphia University.

Student fashion designers presented their stunning capstone collections during the 2010 annual fashion show held at the Academy of Music. The event earned it’s title as one of ‘the largest fashion events’ in Philadelphia with an audience of 1,500 people.

The Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation was the presenting sponsor, NBC10′s Bill Henley and Lori Wilson emceed the show, and TopNotch Records recording artist, Whitney Wolanin sang a few songs to get the crowd going.

Fashion design major Rachel Wendling opened the runway with high-fashion elegance and her award-winning sailor themed evening-wear collection. The gowns were recognized for their exquisite design, unique presentation, and intricate detail-placement of white boat rope to accentuate their free-flowing form.

Rachel received both the Frank Agostino Award and the FIA Award Best Senior Collection. Her designs were, modestly speaking, graceful, radiant, and blossoming in spirit.

This electrifying event concluded with an exclusive after-party at The Bellevue. It truly was a night to remember! Can’t wait til next year!

Philadelphia University’s 2010 Fashion Show [ www.philau.edu ]