NWA Fashion Week makes giving fashionable

FAYETTEVILLE — Fashion shows have become — well, fashionable — when it comes to area fundraising.

Events such as Strut for a Mutt, Rock the Runway for Education and Art Amiss are gaining momentum as some of the most notable and well-attended functions on the philanthropy calendar.

Now, for the first time, these shows and others will come together under the umbrella of Northwest Arkansas Fashion Week, set for March 5-10 at East Square Plaza on the Fayetteville square. Each show will feature wares from local boutiques and designers, such as Riff Raff, Maca Clothe, By Request and more. Tickets went on sale today (Feb. 1) on the NWA Fashion Week website.

All proceeds from the shows will continue to go toward the local nonprofit organizations that previously benefited from the shows, including Spay Arkansas, the Single Parent Scholarship Fund of the Northwest Arkansas, Seven Hills Homeless Center, the Northwest Arkansas Children’s Shelter, Art Amiss and Restore Humanity.

Organizers are hopeful about the prospect of joining forces in the name of charity.

Art Amiss has been doing fashion shows for a handful of years and could be considered the longest-running of the bunch, said Bo Counts, president Art Amiss, a not-for-profit art collective based in Fayetteville.

“We’ve got a lot of fashion shows that have popped up in Northwest Arkansas in the last several years. When we heard about Fashion Week, it just seemed like such a good idea. Getting all these people together is something really unique and new for Northwest Arkansas,” he said.

Fashion Week co-founder and Strut for a Mutt founder Jade Terminella said the number of area shows had created challenges too.

“It came to a point where we were almost all competing, resource-wise and sponsor-wise,” Terminella said. “So, we decided to team up and band our forces to make this one huge event.”

Danielle Davis Vaughan co-founded Fashion Week with Terminella.

Molly Clark, owner of Grey Dog boutique and co-founder of the Globaluxe fashion show benefiting Restore Humanity, agreed.

“The number of shows kept growing, and it resulted in a diluted amount of supporters for each show,” Clark said. “So, Jade and Danielle contacted local designers and boutique owners to see if we would be interested in collaborating to organize a solid week of shows to increase a sense of community around the fundraising.”

Anne Jackson, development director of the Single Parent Scholarship Fund of Northwest Arkansas, sounded a similar note of partnership for non-profit groups as a whole.

“Right now, collaboration is a really big deal with nonprofits because there are so many, per capita, in our area. With there being so many events on an almost-nightly basis, any time groups can collaborate it’s a good thing for everyone,” said Jackson.

This coming together of so many popular events, organizations, designers and boutiques, has garnered some heavy-hitting sponsorships for Fashion Week. Supporters include L’Oreal, Volkswagen and Mountain Valley Spring Water, as well as some  locally-owned businesses like Bordinos, Legacy Blues and Smoke & Barrel.

“We have alot of community support,” said Terminella.

While the shows are still a month off (a daily countdown can be found at the top of the event’s website), there’s lots to do in the interim. A casting call for models was held at James at the Mill. Hundreds competed and a list of those chosen can be found on the website.

Patrons who buy tickets on the website have the option of choosing the nonprofit they wish to support. All other proceeds from the event will be split evenly between the charities.