Catwalk of ingenuity

The rivalry at this year’s Hurley Walk the Walk high school fashion show competition took a more intense turn, with new schools entering the fray.

Laguna Beach High School’s slip-and-slide show finale was met with raucous cheers, but it wasn’t enough to take top honors from first-timer San Clemente High School.

The school won $20,000 for its art and music departments.

Held Tuesday night at Hurley’s headquarters in Costa Mesa, the second Walk the Walk attracted about 1,500 teens, who came to see their schools compete.

Each campus team was given the same pieces from the Hurley Fall 2007 mens, young contemporary and swim collections, and instructed to create and present their own five-minute fashion show.

The schools were responsible for everything from show theme selection to promotion; hair, makeup and outfit styling were also key factors for judging.

Founder Bob Hurley was a walking billboard for the brand’s emphasis on creativity and breaking barriers, wearing a white jacket from Hurley’s women’s line at the event.

Nike President Charlie Denson, soccer star Cobi Jones and Ultimate Fighting Championship star Quinton “Rampage” Jackson joined familiar faces like Hurley brand “muse” and model Rosie in judging this year’s show.

The original $10,000 award donation for the winning school was augmented at the last second by Nike, which matched it and brought the total to $20,000.

Many considered winner San Clemente’s secret weapon to be former Laguna Beach student and MTV “Laguna Beach” star Tessa Keller, who is now attending San Clemente.

She took part in the first Walk the Walk show with Laguna Beach, and served earlier this year as a judge in a Florida Walk the Walk competition.

“That gave me a little insight,” she said.

Keller was given rude finger gestures by some Laguna Beach students during her turn on the catwalk.

But she described the rivalry as friendly, and said that some of her old classmates jokingly call her a traitor before giving her a hug.

Keller still pursues modeling and makes her own clothes, which caught the eye of judges on the runway: students were asked to customize their Hurley goods before the event.

Keller’s new school ousted last year’s victor, Dana Hills High School, and newcomer Los Alamitos High School, which many viewers later said should have won the competition.

Host Peter King, who’s hosted shows on ESPN and MTV, told the students to not be negative to each other.

Meanwhile, the backstage changing area reeked of hairspray; beehives and mohawks defied gravity, while kids threw on leggings, swimsuits and stiletto boots.

Ironically, all four teams chose themes relating to uniqueness.

Students from all four schools applied last-minute Hurley logos and messages to cleavage, legs and stomachs using Sharpie permanent markers.

Due to their ranking status, Dana Hills was the first onto the catwalk. By the start of the standing-room-only show, people were 20-deep behind barricades, trying to catch a glimpse of the runway.

Dana Hills brought back their school band drummers, who had performed last year. They wore paint suits and beat on metal trash cans for part of the show, which opened with girls in Catholic school uniforms with lips taped shut.

One model blew a cloud of glitter into the air; another tossed a packet of fake eyelashes to Rosie, who was already wearing some. They mocked a popular deodorant commercial. No routine was a simple catwalk strut.

San Clemente followed, opening their show with a dance routine. Keller flashed a book about winning to the judges before longboarding down the catwalk; one boy smashed a guitar. Girls wore wings constructed to resemble Hurley logos.

The San Clemente kids put clothing combinations together in creative ways, cutting, resewing and embellishing to create one-of-a-kind looks.

“I’m impressed,” judge and surfer Rob Machado said afterward. “Very impressed.”

The custom clothing also made an impact on judge and Hurley young contemporary designer Jenna Wilson. “They made it their own,” she said.

Los Alamitos followed up with a girl portraying a Hurley Barbie-style doll in a box, who came to life. Catwalk strutters threw beads and hats, and carried custom paintings.

“This is more than a fashion show, people — this is an art show,” King said.

Laguna Beach closed the night with kids coming in from both sides of the catwalk. Live singers opened the show, and boys swaggered with their phone numbers written across their abs.

The routine culminated in ice-water slip-and-slide rides for many of the models.

“Laguna Beach High School literally gave it their all,” King said. “Any more and there would have been heavy fines.”

He thanked the students and judges afterward.

“Tonight we get inspired,” he said. “We want to incorporate this stuff because this is what you guys like.”

San Clemente was declared the winner shortly after the last routine; the intense blogging hasn’t let up post-show.

Hurley put up an online poll to determine the audience favorite; Los Alamitos was the winner by a large percentage as of press time.

Whatever the winner, founder Bob Hurley said, the event was still a blast.

“The worst part is that everybody doesn’t win,” he said.