"Kirkos Metalon"

Kirkos Metalon, the F/W 2012 collection by Founder Member Blasphemina’s Closet, is inspired by old circuses and metal music (the song “Doukoku to Sarinu” from Dir En Grey’s Uroboros album specifically).

The circus print items have an illustration specially designed for this collection by Barb Guttman and are limited. Pre-orders for these items are available through May 25th. Coming soon is a matching t-shirt of the bearded lady! Several items are limited quantity so don’t wait to buy yours!

See the whole set of preview photos of these amazing designs on Flickr with photos by Nic Abrego Photography!

Keep checking back with Blasphemina’s Closet to view new items in the collection as they are released, and don’t forget to become a fan of Blasphemina’s work on Facebook!

Image by Nic Abrego Photography. Clothing by Founder Member Blasphemina’s Closet. Model is Kayley Johnson/Switch. Makeup by Asylum Member Holly Hamel Luckes. Hair by Olivia Poling. Hats by Founder Member Apatico.

"Alternative Wedding Fashion" Dark Beauty Magazine April 2012

Are you looking for a wedding dress, but not really sure you want to go with a traditional white gown that looks like everyone else’s? Want to a find a dress that has personality, style but is still high quality and well-made? Then you need to pick up the April issue of  Dark Beauty Magazine in which the feature is on alternative wedding designs!

Libertine Asylum Member KMK Designs will be featured in this issue, showing off several of their newest designs in never-before-seen photos from fellow Asylum Members Fairshadow Photography and ::photoSynthetique! These are not your boring, traditional wedding dresses! They’re beautiful, artistic ways to truly personalize your special day! So pick up the magazine, take a look, and then contact KMK to find out how they can help you find the right dress to fit your upcoming nuptials!

Makeup and Styling for the photos were provided by: MC Nelson Artistry, Lucinda Connaker and Amber Rose. Models were: Cristina Peterson, Emily Zebrun, Kelly Zubick and Edith.

Photo by Nic Abrego Photography

Instead of doing the usual Fashion show KMK Designs is doing something else this Spring! Kaitlyn of KMK is graduating this May and is creating her Senior line! It will be May 12th at St. Catherine University. Come support her final steps towards a life of fashion and KMK and see her line!

If you are a convention-goer, you can check out some of KMK Designs’ amazing work at both Anime Detour and CONvergence in 2012! Even if you don’t see something you like at their booth, feel free to ask Sheridyn or Kaitlyn how they can help create the perfect custom piece for you.

Find out more information and become a fan of KMK on Facebook!

Promo photo by Nic Abrego Photography. Hair and Styling by M C Artistry.

Photo by Alena Demidova

Asylum Founding Member Blasphemina’s Closet has been producing amazing clothing and accessories in Minneapolis for over a decade. Designer Samantha Rei continues to innovate new designs, even co-creating an entirely new style of fashion entitled “Luxette”. She has recently added new photos to her Facebook page showcasing some of her newest designs. The photos in this set are by various photographers. Go take a look!

Image by Fairshadow Photography

Asylum Member Fairshadow Photography is running a portrait special. For the entire month of April, photographer Carla Haglund is offering her services for the incredibly low price of $75! Her work is artistic and beautiful. You can find out details and more about her work on her Facebook Page!

Models for Seraphim Feathers at SGMS 2010

I’m extremely happy to announce the newest Asylum Member: Seraphim Feathers! The artist behind Seraphim Feathers is popularly known as Miss Ava, and she has been sewing, drawing and producing other beautiful works since she was a young child.

Miss Ava has been well-known, particularly locally, for her frequent participation in the Gothic Lolita community but has recently begun to branch out into other fashion genres. You can see a selection of her current work (as well as request custom pieces) from her Etsy Store or follow her on Facebook!

I’m excited to be working with Miss Ava more closely and can’t wait to see future work from this talented designer! As she says;

“Live Beautifully.”

::Drayke

As many who are familiar with the Libertine Asylum know, since our inception we have been a collective organization. All decisions have been made by the group, responsibility was shared as equitably as possible and everyone did their best to do what they could to make the Asylum bigger and better. While this has worked well for the last three years, it became more and more clear to the senior members that  necessary tasks were not being carried out in a timely manner (and, rarely, not at all), when there was confusion about projects no one was sure who to turn to and sometimes toes were stepped on as Members tried to pick up the slack where they saw things not being done. It was obvious that the Asylum needed a central authority who would be responsible for the regular operation of our many projects, as well as delegation of responsibilities, answering questions for new and existing Members, managing the group’s resources, enforcing deadlines and providing a strong vision for the future of the Asylum.

Not Drayke.....Yet.

Thus, the position of Lord General of the Libertine Asylum was born! After consulting with the Founding Members of the Asylum (Blasphemina’s Closet, Scoundrelle’s Keep and Apatico), it was decided that I (Drayke Larson of ::photoSynthetique, senior Member and wearer of many Asylum hats) would take on the mantle of leadership. I felt that it was a natural move considering that I had been taking on more and more responsibilities within the organization but lacked the authority to ensure that things were operating smoothly. Once the decision was made, the information was disseminated to nearly all past and all current Members and I felt that the announcement was largely met with great enthusiasm!  Personally, I see this as a great step forward for our organization as this will allow me to work directly with each of our many artists to make the changes we need to operate more efficiently.

The title “Lord General” was chosen because it implies both leadership and the idea that the role is not a stuffy corporate position. Also, it just sounds cool. I may need to make a fancy cape!

In addition to the “Lord General” position, we will also be greatly expanding the ranks of Asylum Members in the near future! Preparations are already underway to begin bringing in more artists and businesses. This, along with other changes that are being implemented, will bring an entirely different voice to our organization. We are moving away from “a Fashion Collective” and are working toward being an “Artist Advocacy Group”. Our goal is to help all of our Members grow both as artists and as businesspeople by expanding their access to other artists in their field, helping connect them with the resources they need to learn how to navigate their chosen discipline and provide a great way to share their art with others in the community! I’m feeling very optimistic about the upcoming shifts in our group and I think it’s going to make the Asylum a much more fun, exciting organization to be a part of.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me personally!

I’m looking forward to working with all of the fantastic new artists that we have coming in, enjoying our future events and leading the Asylum into an incredibly bright future!

For the Asylum!

::Drayke

(“Lord General” image is ©2011 Relic Entertainment.)

Pewter Leather Face Mask by Scoundrelle's Keep

Libertine Asylum founding member Scoundrelle’s Keep is having a sale on their half-face Steampunk masks on her Etsy shop!  With embellishments designed to provoke thoughts of steampunk pirates or ninjas, these are high quality leather masks that also work to keep your face warm in frigid weather, much like a scarf. Take one along the next time you’re escaping a stricken airship via snowboard!

In other awesome Scoundrelle’s Keep news, we hear that SK has recently received their official acceptance letter from Anime Detour, which means that you will once again be able to acquire their beautiful leather goods (and absolutely unparalleled corsets!) at Minnesota’s largest anime convention! If you’ll be at Anime Detour, stop by and say Hi! to Heather, Adam, Rin, Elizabeth and all of the other artists of Scoundrelle’s Keep!

"Faeries" Clothing and styling by KMK Designs

Libertine Asylum member brand, KMK Designs, has just had a feature on the Steampunk/Neo-Victorian blog Melancholy Romantic! In it you will find two images from fellow Asylum member (me!) ::PhotoSynthetique, as well as images from other local photographers Nic Abrego and Karrah Kobus.. I can’t possibly say enough nice things about KMK, they are an absolute delight to work with, true professionals, Kaitlyn is an amazing artist and her designs are beautiful!

You can go become a fan of theirs on Facebook or just skip that and go right to their Etsy shop to buy fantastic things!

::Drayke