Memphis Fashion Week
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June
This year Memphis Fashion Week garnered a lot of excitement. In August, they introduced the Memphis Fashion Design Network (MFDN) as the umbrella for all the arms of the ever-growing programs and this January they received an official non-profit status! The MFDN mission to cultivate and educate the fashion industry in Memphis is being supported by the class offerings with the Community Education fashion design courses at Memphis College of Art and the work with emerging designers at the incubator space, The Lab, located on Flicker Street. The classes at Memphis College of Art provide the knowledge to create garments, starting with the basics and then moving towards more disciplined principals. While The Lab currently serves design entrepreneurs and compatible businesses with an environment that will support start-ups, promoting increased success in the Memphis market. The Lab incubator includes studio space, flexible leases, shared us of common sewing and office equipment, direct business assistance and mentoring, and other technical resources. Moving forward, Memphis Fashion Week will continue to be one of the major funding sources for the Memphis Fashion Design Network. This year MFW presented collections of 5 designers along with 18 Emerging Memphis Designer Project (EMDP) designers showcasing 41 looks. Tiena Gwin, a 3 time EMDP alumni, showed her eponymous brand T I E N A as did MFDN member Monte Stewart’s Beg and Borrow Apparel. Memphis Fashion Week also welcomed local designer Sheila Jay, regional designer Sloane Lenz from Austin TX and National headlining superstar designer Nicole Miller, presented by Archer Malmo, to the runway. Runway models weren’t the only stars, the freeze models tripled in number as MFW welcomed more boutiques to showcase their store’s lines during intermissions. The shows couldn’t have been more successful and the launch of the Memphis Fashion Design Network will only bring more success to the annual fashion event. Visit memphisfashiondesignnetwork.com to get involved in the local fashion community.
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RSVP
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June 2017