New York, London and Paris may be the traditional hot spots for fall fashion weeks, but Saturday evening, Omaha’s local designers, artists and models made very clear that the Midwest is well on its way to finding its place in the fashion world.
The second annual Omaha Fashion Week culminated Saturday night with the Grand Finale Runway show where Omaha’s top designers sent their designs down the runway in front of an audience of over 3,000 spectators.
Omaha is in the early stages of developing a fashion scene, said Nick Hudson, the executive director of Fashion Week, and he believes that with the help of the city’s vast creative community, the fashion scene will only continue to grow.
“Last year, nobody understood the scope of what we were doing,” said Omaha Fashion Week Creative Director, Dale Heise, but Fashion Week 2009 attracted twice as many participants and spectators than its 2008 debut. There is a design talent here, said Hudson, and it’s really beginning to shine.
It’s a common assumption that most designs and trends are inspired by creations from the coasts, but the show on Saturday demonstrated something quite contrary. The designs showcased on the runway were the inspirations of local designers and boutique owners and offered a wide variety aesthetic diversity. Models strutted down the catwalk in everything from black patent leather jumpsuits to 1940s inspired evening gowns. 16-year-old Claire Landolt from Roncalli Catholic High was the youngest designer to showcase and stunned the audience with her newspaper ensembles. Although Landolt sells several of her cloth creations at the Bellwether Boutique in the Old Market, she constructed her runway collection from Omaha World-Herald newspapers and duct tape.
Featured designer and creator of Autopilot Art, Alexia Thiele admits that the fashion scene in Omaha is a tad spread apart. “It’s disjointed,” she said, “I didn’t know there were so many [designers]. Thiele said she hopes that the community of designers and boutique owners will work together to pull Omaha’s fashion scene together.” Thiele also proves to be something of a local celebrity. Last year, Disney commissioned her to design a vintage-inspired dress for actress Mae Whitman to wear to the red carpet premiere of the animated film “Tinker Bell.”
Another local celebrity made her debut Saturday night. An MTV crew staked out the foot of the runway to get footage of Council Bluffs teen, Farrah, from MTV reality show “16 and Pregnant,” which will be aired on cable at a later date.
The Omaha Fashion Week creative and production crews are pleased with this year’s turnout and are even considering moving the event to a larger venue like the Qwest Center in the future.
“It was amazing to be a part of this event,” said Fashion Week media representative and Creighton alum, Brianna Hernandez. “I never knew what incredible personalities and talents were hidden right here in Omaha.” For more information on Omaha Fashion Week and the designs featured, visit www.omahafashionweek.com.