Tickets on sale now
Houston Fashion Week is set: Project Runway winners & up-and-comers plan Octobercatwalk debut
Cesar Galindo, shown here at his runway show in New York in February, will kickoff Houston Fashion Week Oct. 11
Irina Shabayeva
Local heroes Chloe Dao, right, and David Peck will participate in the firstHouston Fashion Week next weekPhoto by Shelby Hodge
Christian SirianoPhoto by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Mercedes-Benz
Lynn Wyatt, left, and Elaine Turner
Talk about making an entrance. After much chatter and speculation, Fashion Houston is set to unveil plans for five days of runway shows and parties Oct. 11-15 at Wortham Theater Center. The mix of designers ranges from Project Runway winners and up-and-coming talents to a handful of established names, all of whom, organizers hope, will raise Houston’s reputation as a fashion hotspot.
Event organizer and Momentum Audi General Manager Jared Lang is spearheading the week of fashion shows and started planning the event last October.
“We are a grassroots effort, but we wanted to grow the image of Houston as a talented city,” Lang said.
To that end, the city is well-represented by designers Cesar Galindo, Toni Whitaker, David Peck, Elaine Turner and Chloe Dao, all of whom hail from Houston. Lynn Wyatt, an ideal style representative, is also involved in the event, which says a lot since she has attended her share of New York and Paris fashion shows and is close friends with designers Oscar de la Renta, Karl Lagerfeld and Valentino.
Lang confirmed Project Runway winners Christian Siriano and Irina Shabayeva are showing as well as Lauren Bush, Kiton, Lela Rose, and Lyn Devon and a special presentation by Net-a-Porter.
Tickets start at $35 for standing-room-only and climb to $250, which grants seating on the first three rows and access to VIP parties. Audi, The Four Seasons and Laura Mercier have all signed on as sponsors and Lang said Laura Mercier will be heavily involved in the VIP party scene. While the fashion shows will take place in the Wortham, a tent will be erected in Fish Plaza to hold lounges and pop-up shops.
With the exception of a Fashion Houston press conference in June, details have been scant regarding the shows, schedules and designers and the emergence of a secondary group, HFIG Houston Fashion Week 2010, added to the confusion. Lang said he wanted to the dust to settle before releasing event information.
“There have been some scheduling changes and some designer changes and we have moved some things around and added another night, but now we are 90 percent ready,” Lang said. “The other group is not affiliated with us, but we applaud them for their efforts and maybe next year we can do something together.”
Dao is leading the pack of Houston designers with an announcement party at her Rice Village store, Lot 8, Thursday from 7-9 p.m. She will dish on designers, the schedule and even give hints about her own collection. There will also be an opportunity for party-goers to win two VIP tickets and two backstage passes to one of the shows.
So with the countdown to Fashion Houston started and tickets on sale, one question remains. What to wear?
