Saint Louis Fashion Week Adds Shows, Expands to 10 Days

ST. LOUIS - April 1, 2013 - PRLog -- Lindsay Pattan | Marketing Manager & Digital Strategist | ALIVE Magazine
lindsay@alivemag.com | 314.620.0023

ST. LOUIS FASHION WEEK ADDS SHOWS, EXPANDS TO 10 DAYS

April 1, 2013—ST. LOUIS, MO: St. Louis Fashion Week is celebrating its eighth year supporting the city’s designers, boutiques and retailers by announcing expansion plans that will take the event from a five-day format to a 10-day lineup of runway shows and events.

Taking place September 25-October 4, St. Louis Fashion Week’s programming will continue to focus on its mission to be a launch pad for emerging fashion designers, to support established local and regional designers, to connect national designers to their Midwest consumers and to support local retail.

As part of the expansion, the organizers are adding events that will showcase both local and national designers, in an effort to allow even more designers to connect with the St. Louis fashion community. Event collaborations with St. Louis arts organizations are also being planned to engage event goers in larger conversations around fashion, design and art.

“We are very excited to expand the St. Louis Fashion Week lineup and further our commitment to supporting the local fashion and design communities we’ve worked to help build over the past seven years,” says Elizabeth Tucker, Executive Producer/Cofounder of St. Louis Fashion Week and Publisher/Cofounder of ALIVE Magazine.

The highly successful Project:Design! emerging designer runway show, a signature of the lineup for the past six years, kicks off  April 1 with a call for submissions. Contestants will compete for a prize that includes full-service branding, identity assistance and business mentoring from established fashion professionals. Interested designers may submit online at ALIVEMag.com/ProjectDesign through May 20. Voting begins on May 24 and will run through June 21. The competition, co-produced by ALIVE Magazine and Rock Uniform, has become a coveted platform for local designers and has helped many gain high-volume exposure, quality event production and top-tier national media representation.

St. Louis-based designers Laura Kathleen Planck, Michael Drummond and AJ Thouvenot are three Project:Design alumni who premiered on the St. Louis Fashion Week runways and credit much of their success to St. Louis Fashion Week’s focus on supporting local design talent. “There’s no doubt that Project:Design! played a major role in the casting of A.J., myself and Laura Kathleen,” says “Project Runway” contestant Michael Drummond. “Being able to simply show in Project:Design! opens you up to so much exposure. Just four days after I won Project:Design!, ‘Project Runway’ called me personally to express interest in my line and suggest I try out.”

St. Louis Fashion Week is also expanding its production team and network of supporters. Fashion blogger and former Bakers Footwear Group PR & Social Media Manager Lindsay Pattan joined ALIVE full-time as Marketing Manager & Digital Strategist this year. In the Spring 2013 season in March, she hosted 20 fashion bloggers from St. Louis, Boston, Cincinnati, New York and other markets, who were entertained by Saks Fifth Avenue and fashion tech startup Canopi.me, among others. A St. Louis Fashion Week Advisory Board was created since last fall, and includes a high-profile cast of influencers in the fashion and arts communities, including Susan Barrett, Nicole Benoist, Tania Beasley-Jolly, Saskya Byron, Sam Foxman, Jan Leach Givens, Sara Hentz, Ann Higby, Emily Huey, Cabanne Howard, Boo McLoughlin, Susan Sherman, Ellen Soule, Sharon Tucci and Robin VerHage-Abrams.

About St. Louis Fashion Week:

ALIVE Magazine has produced St. Louis Fashion Week for 8 seasons and has successfully connected over 75 local fashion designers, 35+ national designers, dozens of local fashion boutiques and retail corporations and countless buyers, media outlets, bloggers, national influencers and other members of the fashion industry. An estimated 100,000 people have attended eight fall St. Louis Fashion Weeks and three Spring St. Louis Fashion Week seasons. Each year, St. Louis Fashion Week raises $10-$15,000 for local charities, which have included St. Louis Children’s Hospital, Haven House, Food Outreach and more. For more information about St. Louis Fashion Week, visit stlouisfashionweek.com. To keep up with the latest St. Louis Fashion Week news and updates, follow St. Louis Fashion Week on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/stlouisfashionweek?fref=ts) and #STLFW (https://twitter.com/search/realtime?q=stlfw&src=typd) on Twitter and Instagram.