the beginning.
Omaha Fashion Week started in 2008 as an event held in the heart of the Old Market for 12 designers, 20 models and 2,000 attendees. It has grown to become the fourth largest organized fashion week event in the country, and the first to make show participation completely free of charge for designers.
TODAY.
Fifteen years into the journey, attendance has grown to over 10,000 per year and OFW has developed a national reputation as the best place for young fashion designers to be nurtured. We now draw designers and fans to Omaha from all over the world. Behind the glitz and glamour of this red-carpet event, you’ll find a commitment to education and a passion for supporting cultural vibrancy, creativity, and innovation as drivers of economic stability and growth.
WHAT WE DO.
Omaha Fashion Week is a socially conscious organization with a strong mission and purpose - to serve as an incubator for fashion industry talent and provide opportunities for the Omaha community to enjoy a unique, red-carpet experience. We have had a hand in creating a thriving local fashion ecosystem where fashion designers, design students, and fashion entrepreneurs can learn to make a successful career in the fashion industry. We believe building an attractive place for talented professionals to call home is vitally important and are proud to be part of the landscape of annual arts and culture events that help make Omaha a vibrant community!
Omaha Fashion Week believes in making a real difference in the lives of designers. Both Emerging and Featured Designers compete for their respective Golden Shears Awards. These winners are chosen by our OFW Selection Panels, which are comprised of independent industry experts who spend the months leading up to shows mentoring and coaching designers to present their best on the runway! Each season, Omaha Fashion Week awards over $7,500 worth of prizes to designers. Find out more about our Prize Packages!
COMMUNITY COLLABORATIONS.
The MCC Student Night Panelists discussing the show. Photo by Heather and Jameson.
Metropolitan Community College
Driven by an increased local interest in fashion design education, a fashion program was created at Metro Community College in 2016. OFW Founders participated in the development of curriculum focused on entrepreneurship, business, and helping students make a career in the fashion industry. Today, the OFW team provides ongoing staff support, coordinating opportunities for the hands-on apprenticeship experience required for graduation from the program.
University of Nebraska-Lincoln Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Fashion Design
OFW Founders serve as advisors to UNL faculty to ensure the fashion program curriculum in the Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Fashion Design remains relevant, and also to help connect students with internships and opportunities to expand their knowledge. OFW provides hundreds of free tickets to UNL students to attend the show. OFW also provides funding through the University of Nebraska Foundation to cover all students’ costs to produce their student runway show.
Burke High School | Omaha Central High School | Omaha South High School
To protect fashion education curriculum for local high school students, the OFW team coordinated a letter-writing campaign to fight for the fashion programs within Omaha Public Schools in 2015. As a result of those efforts and with the support of dedicated educators, Omaha South High School now has a four-year fashion program where students can earn college credit through MCC while still attending high school.
Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) | Joslyn’s Fashion Arts Program at Yates Community Center | Kent Bellows Mentoring Program at the Joslyn | Nebraska 4-H | Teen Ambassadors Program
Since its inception, Omaha Fashion Week has had a hand in the development and promotion of several programs dedicated to a diverse audience of kids and young adults. We believe in using fashion and design as a way to promote confidence and foster transferrable skills in science, technology, engineering, art, and math. Fashion is the ideal platform for students to discover and develop their entrepreneurial talent, planting seeds of inspiration in future business leaders who will drive our economy forward.
(Left) Student learning sewing skills at Omaha Fashion Camp with Develop Model Management. Photo by Kathy Rae Photography. (Right) Campers showcasing their designs on the Omaha Fashion Week runway during the August 2022 showcases. Photo by Heather and Jameson.
Omaha Fashion Camp
Hosted in collaboration with Develop Model Management at Empire Room, kids ages six to 17 come to this week-long camp to learn about all aspects of the fashion industry - modeling, sewing, design, branding and marketing. This event culminates with a runway show featuring their very own designs. Top campers get to show on the OFW runway during the August season.
Fashion Arts Collective
In the Fall of 2012, OFW co-owner Brook Hudson wrote a business plan to create the Fashion Arts Collective (FAC). The mission of FAC was to provide educational grants to designers and design students and help designers bridge the gap between fashion shows and retailing. The FAC workroom is located in Omaha’s North Downtown “Makerhood” and is fully outfitted with sewing machines, cutting tables, computers, resource library, studio room, and board room - all free for designers.
Develop Model Management | Make Believe Studios | OFW Beauty Alliance
success stories.
Borris Powell and Brook Hudson. Photo by Heather and Jameson.
Cydnee Mame. Photo by Damion Grace.
Borris Powell of Chicago has been a long-time fixture of OFW, offering words of wisdom to up-and-coming designers while serving on our Finale Selection Panel. During the summer of 2019, Borris landed a wholesale deal with a women’s boutique in the upper east side of New York City, and opened his first namesake storefront in Chicago, just steps away from Union Station.
Cydnee Mame is a true veteran model, gracing the Omaha Fashion Week runway for 12 seasons! Develop Model Management has secured her a contract with Stewart Talent in Chicago, where she relocated in 2019. Cydnee is not only a phenomenal model, but she is also a very talented photographer who mentors our new models and is even shooting new models in Chicago.
Greta Slagle is a long-time OFW volunteer who graduated from Duchesne Academy. In spring of 2019, she showed her first collection at OFW while also working as Assistant Backstage Manager. These experiences gave her the ability to study at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Florence, Italy.
“I am eternally grateful to Brook, Buf, Nick and the rest of the leadership team for allowing me to increase my volunteer responsibilities over the past six seasons and; most importantly, for selecting me for the Emerging Designer Showcase this season. I don’t think I would have gotten this experience in any other city, so I know I am blessed to have been involved in OFW.”
Hannah Nodskov, the designer behind Hannah Caroline Couture, started showing at OFW in high school and now specializes in formal wear for the plus-size market. Her work was featured on the cover of Luxe Kurves magazine. She sells her work at Noa Brides and one of Omaha’s premier bridal boutiques.
Margie Trembley, the designer behind Margie Trembley Chapeaux, was selected by the Milliners Guild to show her hats at the Mezzanine Gallery at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Her work was shown in the Camp: Notes on Fashion exhibition, a nod to the 2019 Met Gala chaired by Anna Wintour.
“I want to thank everyone at OFW for giving me this wonderful opportunity to participate over the years, and consequently rediscover my identity. I mean that quite literally - OFW has changed my life and I can’t imagine how I would’ve survived without it.”
Margie Trembley Chapeaux on the OFW runway. Photo by Heather and Jameson.
Develop Model Management scouted and signed Margaret Shae after she attended the OFW summer 2018 casting. Not only did she book the shows, but she also became the cover model for the F/W 2018 Omaha FASHION Magazine. In summer 2019, she spent three months in Singapore signed with Ave. Model Management where she shot an advertorial for Louis Vuitton published in Elle Singapore and an advertorial for YSL in Harper’s Bazaar.