Event poster / Courtesy, NWA Fashion Week
One of the best dressed weekends of the year is coming up in Fayetteville.
NWA Fashion Week, featuring two days of runway shows and celebrating fashion designers and boutiques from all over the state of Arkansas, is set for November 9-10 at Drake Field in Fayetteville.
The event got it start in 2012, and was recently revived and revitalized by new leadership recently after a three year hiatus.
NWA Fashion Week
When: Nov. 9-10
Where: Drake Field
Tickets: $45 for general admission, $90-120 for VIPs
More info: nwafw.com
New CEO Robin Atkinson, a Fayetteville native who recently returned to the area to take over the event, held her first NWA Fashion Week show in the spring at Crystal Bridges.
The Fayetteville event next month will be similar to that event, but will have a heavier focus on local designers, specifically those who are pushing the envelope when it comes to design in the state of Arkansas, Atkinson said.
“We are doing the same thing we did in the spring, but there are more designers than boutiques this time,” she said. “We are also starting to shift toward designers focused on more avant-garde and artistic fashion design, and less on ready-to-wear fashion.”
Atkinson’s spring event will also take place a new venue.
“We are doing it at the airplane hanger at Drake Field,” she said. “We think it will have a cool, grungier feel, and I think the setting there – with all lights are focused on the runway – will allow us to have a New York Fashion Week-vibe with more focus on the clothing.”
Designers that will show collections during the Fayetteville show this year include Melonhopper, created by former Arkansan Lauren Randall that has begun picking up a lot of steam in the fashion world lately; UA Grad Brittany Allen, whose Brittany Nicole line has shown at fashion weeks all over the country recently; and NWACC graduate Rulli Torez, who’s bridals and quinceanera dresses have taken off in Dallas.
Arkansas designers Love, Zelda, Junque Rethunque, Alberti & Co., Aimz, Rosie Rose, Felix Bui, Material Concepts, Adoskope, Richard Cotto, Down Right Denim, and Chavon Shree will also show at the event.
Boutiques this year include Couture Bridal, Hello Luvvy, Bride N Groom, Masons, Rustic Mule, HEM, She Said Yes, and Vestas.
An NWA Fashion Week editorial featuring designs by Melonhopper, an Arkansas designer whose work will appear in this year’s NWAFW show
Courtesy, NWA Fashion Week
Each designer and boutique will have between 10-20 looks to show off on the runway.
New this year, NWA Fashion Week will also be giving out awards to some of the the top designers at the event.
One of them, called the Arkansas Fashion Week Fashion Incubator Award, will go an Arkansas-based designer focused on all-original design that have shown at a previous Fashion Week Event. The winner of that award will receive a fashion editorial produced by NWA Fashion Week, and business and branding help from local professionals and designers from the University of Arkansas.
A second award has been created for newer designers (called the Emerging Designer Award) in the first three years of their career from Arkansas that submit their own original collection for NWA Fashion Week. This award comes with a $375 gift card for fabric from a local retailer, and acceptance to a future NWA Fashion Week show.
Runway shows will take place on Friday and Saturday night, beginning each night at around 7 p.m. (a full schedule is below).
General admission tickets are $45 per night, or $90-$120 for VIPs.
Proceeds from the event help benefit NWA Fashion Week’s parent company, Arkansas Fashion Week, a non-profit that seeks to provide support to Arkansas fashion designers through scholarships, production grants, and marketing support.
For more information about this year’s event, visit nwafw.com.
NWA Fashion Week Schedule
Thursday, Nov. 9
7:15 p.m. – Love, Zelda
7:30 p.m. – Couture Bridal
7:45 p.m. – Junque Rethunque
8 p.m. – Hello Luvvy
8:45 p.m. – Alberti & Co.
9 p.m. – Bride N Groom
9:15 p.m. – Aimz
9:30 p.m. – Masons
10:10 p.m. – Rulli Torres
10:25 p.m. – Melonhopper
10:40 p.m. – Rosie Rose
Friday, Nov. 10
7:15 p.m. – Rustic Mule
7:30 p.m. – Felix Bui
7:45 p.m. – HEM
8:35 p.m. – Material Concepts
8:50 p.m. – She Said Yes
9:05 p.m. – Adoskope
9:20 p.m. – Richard Cotto
10:10 p.m. – Vestas
10:25 p.m. – Down Right Denim
10:40 p.m. – Chavon Shree
10:55 p.m. – Brittany Nicole
