Philly Fashion Week celebrates 20 years of runway shows
What started out as a weekend of outdoor shows at City Hall’s plaza back in 2006, is one of the most respected regional fashion weeks in the country today.
Philly Fashion Week culminated the yearlong celebration of its 20th birthday last weekend with a series of pop-up runway shows in Center City’s former Strawbridge & Clothier building.
“The city showed up and showed out,” said Kerry Scott, cofounder of Philly Fashion Week. “It’s been such a journey and we are so excited about it.”
More than 40 student and professional designers from the city and beyond lit up the runways. Some of the collections, like Atlanta-based brand Verdict Still Out’s leather and American flag motif, were as rebellious as they were patriotic.
Others, like Philly-based accessory designer Love Cili’s were plush and dramatic, while those like that of Reco Chapple, menswear designer and alum of Bravo’s short-lived reality television’s The Fashion Show, were chic.
Scott and Kevin Parker produced their first Philly Fashion Week — a weekend of outdoor shows at City Hall’s plaza — back in 2006, because they wanted to make fashion accessible to everyday Philadelphians.
The entrepreneurial duo shifted from the glitz of fashion to the business of fashion and now runs one of the country’s most respected regional fashion weeks.
Fern Mallis, credited with uniting American designers under the Bryant Park tents and shaping the modern version of New York Fashion Week, is a regular attendee and a champion of Philly Fashion Week. She was in the audience for Saturday night’s show.
Last year, Scott and Parker opened Maison Philly Fashion Week, a boutique in the Fashion District, where shoppers can buy pieces featured on the Philly Fashion Week runway.
What’s next for Philly Fashion Week?
“We just want to keep growing,” said Parker, who, along with Scott, were feted by the local fashion industry for their success. Parker and Scott also received citations from City Council.
“We want to keep growing and changing and helping people see that New York is not the only place where fashion lives and thrives,” Parker said. “Philly is an important leader in the fashion industry, too.”