Phoenix Fashion Week is a major force in the Arizona fashion scene. By organizing local events throughout the year, PFW completes their goal of “bridging designers and buyers” to ultimately “push Arizona fashion forward.” We had the amazing opportunity to get a sneak preview of the collections the Emerging Designers for Phoenix Fashion Week 2012 will be showing this year.
One highlight of the annual Phoenix Fashion Week in October is their Emerging Designers Competition. Executive Director, Brian Hill, and his team travel all around the United States to find fresh talent. With a seven-city tour around the US earlier this year, the team was able to find some unique voices to ultimately present a full collection in the fall.
“The reason that we haves such an eclectic group of designers is because we’re trying to help everyone do something. So from t-shirts to ball gowns to convertables, we think they all need help. We don’t really know who’s going to be the best, but we think if we can activate these designers in all these categories, they all can actually own those categories so we have a better chance at really spreading the wings of fashion week,” said Hill when asked about the wide variety of styles presented at Phoenix Fashion Week.
Emerging designers are not only presented with an opportunity to show a collection in front of buyers, media, and the general public, they are also given guidance along the way from Brian Hill and his team. “A few years ago when we came up with this emerging designer concept, we said to ourselves let’s do something Project Runway esque, but let’s do a little bit better. Let’s build legitimate fashion brands from the ground up.” By teaching the new talent how to brand, write press releases, and create a profit margin, the Phoenix Fashion Week team is ultimately building a platform towards success for these twelve fortunate designers.
“Everyone on our team from style to operations to designers are super passionate about pushing Arizona fashion forward… That’s the only way we can build a legitimate fashion scene is to build legitimate brands that go out and go global.” Some of the talent showcased at tonight’s Emerging Designer Announcement definitely has the potential to launch on a national scale.
Each designer presented an individual approach that told a story of who they were and their personal journey. Our favorites included JHaus, ENVY by Khanh, and Bri Seeley. Jennifer Hausmann of JHaus caught our attention with her fitted denim dress, inspired by her Midwest roots. We fell in love when the model turned around, revealing a metal honeycomb detailing on the back of the gown. Khanh Nguyen’s sexy black and white dress had us pining over the full ballerina skirt and color blocked bodice. Envy by Khanh will definitely be a collection to watch in October. Bri Seeley awakened our inner goddess with her sheer maxi dress. The ombre aqua skirt revealed a soft yellow dress beneath. We loved the movement the skirt brought as the model floated down the aisle.
Decide your favorite at Phoenixfashionweek.com where Brian Hill will be tracking the public’s favorite designer based on design, background story, and most likely to succeed.
For a more personal connection with the top 12 emerging designers, follow them on Twitter:
EYE Thread @EYEThread Los Angeles, CA
Paulie Gibson @PG1213 St. Louis, MO
Italia Rocks Couture – St. Louis, MO
Shawl Dawls @ShawlDawls Los Angeles, CA
Susanne Lay @SuzannelaySTL St. Louis, MO
Living Dreams @LivingDreamsUSA Scottsdale, AZ
ENVY by Khanh @EnvybyKhanh Phoenix, AZ
Sew Twisted Designs @SewTwisted Vail, AZ
Bri Seeley @BriSeeley Lacey, WA
Ofra Style @OfraStyle Scottsdale, AZ
JHaus @JHaus_Brand Los Angeles, CA
Samantha Patterson @SamanthaPDesign Flagstaff, AZ
This sneak preview has us so excited for all the surprises that Phoenix Fashion Week will bring. October 3-6th can’t come soon enough! Talking Stick Resort will be hosting all the festivities once again this year, and we can’t wait to join in on the excitement.
