The latest blog posts on the Midwest's Premier Fashion Event.
As we move full steam ahead into planning our 10th Anniversary season for August 2017, we've spent a lot of time reflecting on things we can improve, things we do well and dreaming of bigger things to come. But we realize, that we aren't the only ones impacted by our decisions. And so, we pass the baton to you.
Need a little fashion to hold you over until OFW celebrates its 10th anniversary in August? We've rounded up all of our press coverage from Omaha Fashion Week February 2017 to get you ready!
Want to try your hand at design, but aren't quite ready to produce a full collection? Our friends at Tehra & b have an opportunity for you! They are hosting a Luxe Knot Bag competition that will award cash prizes to the top designs in two categories. If you are the winner and your bag design goes into production, you could be eligible for ongoing royalties from sales! Read on to learn more:
Now that Omaha Fashion Week February 2017 presented by SAC Federal Credit Union has come to an end, we are seeing all sorts of beautiful photography posted on social media. We gathered up what we've found so far in one place for you to peruse!
As Omaha Fashion Week matures we hope to serve our fashion community better each year. This year we are making exciting changes to benefit our designers. Two tracks, Emerging and Featured Designers, call for two separate panels.
“What if we could get 50 designers to apply?” we dreamed. “What if we could get applications from all over the Midwest?” we pondered. And so we did! Actually, we did even better…with 57 designers applying from across the United States. We are thrilled to be interviewing a record high of 50 designers beginning this evening!
Omaha Fashion Week is an ever-evolving beast. It is constantly experiencing growth and change. This season is no exception. We are making some big changes to our system to help designers be their most successful selves!
Omaha Fashion Week concluded Sunday evening after a weeklong celebration of fashion talent in the Midwest. Over 60 designers and 14 boutiques showed collections on the runway this week. Seventeen designers in three showcases and 42 student designers in the Metropolitan Community College Student Night competed for nightly $500 cash prizes courtesy of SAC Federal Credit Union.
Victor Victoria wins first ever live Style Battle of Omaha Fashion Week. Four styling teams spent 48 hours completing head-to-toe looks including hair, make-up and clothing for six models. On Friday evening the teams drew an Oscar Best Picture winning film to inspire their collection. Earlier that morning over 100 guests attended Shop the Runway Sunday for the opportunity to shop collections from 15 designers that showed on the runway this week.
Record breaking crowds showed up to the Omaha Design Center Saturday February 25th for the final Designer Showcase of Omaha Fashion Week. Todd and Orenda Fink of Closeness played during the Pretty in Patina Pre-Party. Ballet Nebraska kicked off the show with a presentation of Ella from their upcoming show Momentum opening April 1. Headlining designer, Michael Drummond, traveled from St. Louis to stun the crowd with custom-printed florals inspired by his mother’s garden and hand-glittered shoes. Read More...
The snow didn’t stop this show! Omaha Fashion Week presented by SAC Federal Credit Union continued yesterday evening despite the weather. Guests of the Pretty in Patina Pre-Party enjoyed music from Reesa Renee, an artist flown in for the show from the DC Metro-a first for OFW. Designers Paulie Gibson, Nuevintage, Fat Owl Fashion, SKM Fashion, Miranda Hanson, Aaron Sobetski, and Judy Bales Designs brought collections to the runway.
Inspired by the female spies and heroines of James Bond films and novels by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Madyssen sought out to illustrate a love letter from a heartbroken woman. “I took those aesthetics [from James Bond and F. Scott Fitzgerald] and I’m using them to portray a very dark love story on stage and I’m embroidering that love story throughout the collection,” she tells us. The use of fabrics like wool, chiffon and velvet helped her tell the story and maintain a dark femininity, she says.
Hannah Swanson joins Omaha Fashion Week for the first time with her eveningwear collection. The recent Iowa State University graduate has produced a collection of eight gowns in jewel-toned hues and silver. The collection features beaded lace as well as lightweight fabrics that mimic the flowy movement of water.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln senior says she wanted to create a collection that was inspired by how she first learned to sew from her grandmother when she was 8-years-old. “I wanted to incorporate her throughout [the collection] because she taught me be strong; and so I design for the stronger woman.”
Sydney Moore, only 17, will be showing this year for the fourth time at Omaha Fashion Week.
The young designer has constructed a collection inspired by 90s grunge fashion mixed with the high school environment she sees every day. “It’s really comfortable and casual,” she says. “It’s things that my friends and I like to wear or wish we could wear more. It’s also pushing the limits and boundaries.”
Judy says her collection is inspired water in all of its manifestations like natural waterfalls or thunderstorms and also water in architectural settings where it has been manipulated by man. “As I was experimenting with the materials, they started suggesting water to me, and that’s how the theme came about,” she says.
Elayne's collection focuses on both the LGBT and the differently abled community with clothing made specifically for people with sensory disorders, chronic illness and mental disabilities, in addition to pride and plus-sized wear. Her show this spring will include gender neutral and gender fluid pieces that put an emphasis on accessibility and comfort.
Newcomer to design Margaret Larson joins Omaha Fashion Week for the first time with her label Argeaux.
Margaret's collection, initially inspired by color, transformed into the idea of intertwined colors and eventually led to the idea of the rainbow. The collection, Margaret says, has a deeper meaning of insecurity and overcoming it.
Aaron Sobetski has been designing for two years and has shown at Omaha Fashion week in various student nights and a full collection in the fall of 2016. The 17-year-old designer based his current collection on a modern mix of 1920s to 1940s haute couture and evening wear. Aaron says he was inspired by the late designers Christian Dior and Charles James.
Inspired by the edgy styles of 80s fashion, Miranda says her goal was to create a modern monochromatic daywear collection inspired by the 80s minus the typical neon and loud colors. The collection features a black and white color palette with denim and hints of cobalt blue and embroidery detail throughout.
