Following a one-year hiatus, Style Week Pittsburgh returned with what its founder Wadria Taylor called a “less-is-more” approach.
It worked.
For its sixth outing, Style Week Pittsburgh stuck with just three days of programming, instead of aiming for a week’s worth of festivities. The result was events that were pretty polished and appeared to run smoothly.
It started Friday with the Style Awards at Hotel Indigo’s South Oakland location. After attending several of these ceremonies over the years in rowdy restaurants and lounges, the hotel’s J&L Ballroom was a good fit. It was small enough to keep the audience engaged during the awards presentation, yet roomy enough for mingling during the cocktail hour and the dance party that followed. Style Week Pittsburgh’s planners should stick with this sort of atmosphere for this event in the future.
On Saturday, the action moved to Union Project — situated between East Liberty and Highland Park — for a full evening of fashion shows. The collections that Jensine Noir, Ruby Dawn International, Willie Gee’s Collection, Lana Neumeyer and ProBantu Style presented were strong. (Some of the looks were dressed up with hats by Felt Happiness and accessories by Hill Real Pearls.) Each designer managed to find the sweet spot between showing us enough to take us on a journey, but not so many things that the event felt never-ending. The stained-glass windows in the converted church made for a beautiful backdrop for the models who graced the runway.
Style Week Pittsburgh wrapped on Sunday with a networking brunch and discussion at Ascender, a co-working space near Bakery Square in East Liberty. Anyone who’s looking to launch a business in fashion — or grow an existing one — should have been at this event. Brand strategist Kyshira Moffett, who also runs her own cosmetics line, outlined ways entrepreneurs can find their voice and sales through social media branding and marketing. Shaunda McDill, the arts and culture program officer for Heinz Endowments, gave advice on how to navigate the city’s philanthropic foundation landscape.
One thing all these events had in common was that there were few frills to them — no special lighting, minimal refreshments (beyond the brunch), little decor. Those little things cost money, though, and Style Week Pittsburgh to date has primarily been the product of sweat equity and in-kind donations. It’s time for it to start building out its infrastructure (personnel, funding options, etc.) so it can work toward becoming a year-round operation capable of dreaming up and executing bigger, better and more events.
Here’s a call to action for the community, too. For events like this to grow, Pittsburgh needs to invest in them. Buy a ticket and go to one. Bring a friend. Maybe even purchase something from a local designer while you’re there. Post about it on social media.
It also needs support in the form of monetary sponsorships and grants, a topic that was touched on during the brunch event. These kinds of annual, multiday events have the potential to not only strengthen Pittsburgh’s fashion scene, but also its economy, both in the short term (people who go to an event may also patronize a local restaurant after the show, buy a new outfit from their neighborhood boutique to wear for the occasion, etc.), and down the road (producing strong fashion events may make the city more attractive to rising designers looking for an affordable place to set up shop and develop their businesses).
From its inception, Style Week Pittsburgh’s mission has been to bring people together. Even without a bunch of money or a large staff, it can work on doing that by inviting even more people from all walks of life to be part of that conversation. It’s already done a stellar job spotlighting talented designers, models, stylists and vendors within Pittsburgh’s black community. Similarly shining a light on hidden gems within additional communities — LGBTQ, body-positive, Asian, Hispanic, Indian, youths, seniors, etc. — will help Style Week Pittsburgh further broaden its reach and its impact.
Sara Bauknecht: sbauknecht@post-gazette.com or on Twitter and Instagram @Sara_PG.
First Published: August 19, 2019, 10:00 a.m.
