When the Nashville Fashion Alliance was finding its footing a few years back, it set a goal to raise $100,000 in seed funding -— and did just that.
The Detroit Garment Group became a registered public charity and actively seeks donations through its website as one way to help finance its business education programming, which supports Detroit’s evolving fashion industry.
Neither of these scenarios sums up how things have panned out so far for Style 412, a Pittsburgh-based council on a mission to elevate the city’s fashion community. While it’s made strides in programming and development this past year, coming up with money to back its efforts hasn’t been easy. And in a city like Pittsburgh -- home to its fair share of philanthropic institutions big and small -- Style 412’s money woes are a little tough to understand.
To date, the group has been financed by its nine-member, all-female council, according to member Aire Plichta Reese. Style 412 was spearheaded in 2016 by Elysia Newman, a self-described longtime fashion lover who works by day as a digital brand manager for a local startup.
The group got its start through a yearlong series of monthly meet-ups with local designers, stylists, bloggers, photographers, artists and other influencers to get feedback on the strengths and needs of Pittsburgh’s emerging fashion scene. The findings were compiled into a 40-page report released last summer on the state of the city’s fashion industry, along with suggestions for how to increase its visibility and viability.
But a passion to want to make things happen can only get a burgeoning group like Style 412 so far. Earlier this month, Ms. Newman said as much in a Facebook post sharing that Style 412 didn’t make the cut for a $1,000 Sprout Fund legacy award. The micro-grant nonprofit awards small grants for creative ideas that promote innovation and civic change. Some of those projects seeded by Sprout over the years have turned into other nonprofits, including Bike Pittsburgh, Tree Pittsburgh and Assemble learning center in Garfield. Earlier this year, the Sprout Fund announced it would cease operation in June.
“I find it hard to believe that fashion doesn’t play an equally important role in shaping the community and residential landscape of Pittsburgh or any city for that matter,” Ms. Newman said on Facebook. “What this decision shows me is that fashion needs to continue proving its worth.”
The money would have been used to develop new projects and programming, Ms. Plichta Reese said. For example, Style 412 is talking about creating a database that would aggregate information on all aspects of the fashion industry in Pittsburgh. (In other words, if you’re a designer seeking a makeup artist and a photographer for a look book shoot, you could search the database for professionals in the region who offer those services.) The group also wants to hold regular networking and educational events.
Style 412 didn’t receive a reason why it didn’t earn a Sprout Fund grant. The group is in the process of trying to become a nonprofit, hoping that will help its cause.
These growing pains shed light on the fact that Pittsburgh lacks a support system to help fashion-focused endeavors like Style 412 come up with the financing they need to forge ahead. Plus, what makes Style 412 different from, let’s say, a fashion designer or a runway show, is that what it’s doing isn’t necessarily something that can be worn or seen. That could make it a tougher sell for funding from a donor or foundation, especially one not familiar with the potential citywide impact of a group like this.
In other cities, groups similar to what Style 412 is trying to be have helped catapult their respective fashion industries into a national spotlight. Nashville’s fashion growth was highlighted in a New York Times article last year. Detroit is on a mission to build Michigan’s first garment district. Pittsburgh is ripe with creative talent, too, so there’s no reason it can’t be mentioned in the same breath.
Bottom line: Style 412 wants to help Pittsburgh. But it can’t do it alone.
Sara Bauknecht: sbauknecht@post-gazette.com or on Twitter and Instagram @SaraB_PG.
First Published: June 27, 2018, 5:27 p.m.
