Phoenix Fashion Week, the Valley’s leading authority on fashion, will host its annual series of runway shows, Oct. 18 – 20, from 5:30 p.m. for pop-up shops and fashionably networking to 10 p.m., at Talking Stick Resort, located at 9800 East Talking Stick Way in Scottsdale, Ariz. The three-day event celebrates the conclusion of a four-month emerging designer boot camp, led by mentor and True Religion Jeans Co-founder, Kym Gold, in which 12 hand-selected designers from around the nation have been preparing to launch their collections for Phoenix Fashion Week.
These designers will debut their highly-anticipated looks to more than 5,000 of Arizona’s most fashionable men and women, influencers and celebrities. In addition, for the first time since its debut, Phoenix Fashion Week’s 25 fashion shows, red carpet experiences and behind-the-scenes footage will be livestreamed to 21 cities around the nation. This is thanks to a livestream sponsorship with National Cable TV Group, Cox Media, that will launch a Fashion TV Docu-Series featuring PHXFW event recaps and behind-the-scenes. The series is available on the YurView channel in 21 cities, including Phoenix. This new alignment built momentum all summer long and now fashionistas can secure their seat at home by purchasing the 3-day event at PhoenixFashionWeek.cleeng.com.
This year’s schedule, builds on the success of last year, with many former Phoenix Fashion Week participants returning as established designers. Including ‘Lifestyle Designer of the Year,’ Quinlan Wilhite of Qmulative, ‘Contemporary Designer of the Year,’ Nouvelle Palm Beach Joana, and ‘Couture Designer of the Year,’ Loren Aragon of Aconav, who was commissioned by Walt Disney World, for a one of a kind dress installment earlier this year.
“Every year, Phoenix Fashion Week continues to grow our brand reach. This year, we have global brands from Kuwait, Dubai, Philippines and across the United States, and continues to be the launching pad for brands looking to succeed in the fashion industry,” said Brian Hill, Executive Director at PHXFW. Designer to the stars, Yas Couture by Elie Madi, will make his return to the PHXFW runway after another successful red-carpet season. Their designs have been worn by the likes of Carrie Underwood, Gwen Stefani, Jennifer Lopez and more. Additionally, Rocky Gathercole will be closing the show with a finale featuring his avant garde and couture designs.
“Phoenix Fashion Week has been a catalyst in propelling Arizona fashion forward, while creating new experiences for guests,” said Hill. “This year, we will host our 3rd Annual ‘Community Showcase,’ featuring 12 local designers and their best two looks.”
The Community Show is presented by F.A.B.R.I.C. of Tempe. Among those new experiences, is the Little Black Dress Challenge in which PHXFW partnered with Goodwill of Central Arizona. Open to the public, the challenge called all designers to try their hand at repurposed fashion by utilizing their local Goodwill clothing and competing for the chance to have their design featured on the runway on Friday, Oct.19.
According to Hill, the three-day event will include a variety of fashion-focused seminars sponsored by the distinguished Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) in Los Angeles and taught by industry experts during the day. The seminars will offer insights on how to launch, market and successfully run a fashion business. They will also feature 24 high-energy evening runway shows.
In addition, as October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, ‘Fashionably Pink’ will highlight a night of celebrity fundraising and awareness for local breast cancer charity Don’t be A Chump! Check for a Lump! On Thursday, Oct.18, 30 breast cancer survivors and local celebrities including Dr. Brian Gawley, Dr. Raman Mahabir, “Face of Foothills,” Valerie Loo, Cynthia Sassi of FabAZ, Philanthropist Oscar De La Salas, Javier Soto of 3TV, Miss Arizona Teen USA, Miss Arizona USA and more, will grace the runway in all pink garments for a show that is sure to be unique and heartwarming.
On Saturday, Oct. 20, Phoenix Fashion Week will award both ‘Designer of the Year’ and ‘Model of the Year’ Male and Female. The two winning models will each receive full modeling contracts from industry leader, Agency Arizona, successfully launching their careers. Each night Hill and the Phoenix Fashion Week team will announce Lifestyle, Contemporary and Ready To Wear ‘Designer of the Year’ and a $10,000 prize package.
Moreover, guests can enjoy a red-carpet experience and photo op, exclusive access to designer pop-up shopping in the Style Villa Marketplace, designer meet and greets, live music and more!
Phoenix Fashion Week is supported by Talking Stick Resort, Sanderson Lincoln Black Label, True North Studio, Leidan-Mitchell Model Citizen, Kensington Makeup Academy, Yellow Paint Productions, Grateful Ventures, Kettle One, Peroni, White Claw, PCA Skin, Modern Luxury, Goodwill of Arizona, Arizona Department of Education, Cox Media and YurView.
Tickets are required to attend Phoenix Fashion Week at Talking Stick Resort and range from $30 GA to VIP Front Row $240. Tickets can be purchased at https://www.phxfw2018.eventbrite.com/.
Purchase of the Livestreamed Phoenix Fashion Week 3-day event can be found at PhoenixFashionWeek.cleeng.com. For more information, visit www.phoenixfashionweek.com/ or follow on Instagram or Twitter @PHXfashionweek. We encourage followers to use Phoenix Fashion Week’s official twitter hashtag #PHXFashionweek, #DesignerBootCamp and #PHXFWTOP40 for this event.
