Dayton Fashion Week

Midwest Fashion Week Kicks Off Wednesday

October 16, 2012 By Caressa Brown Leave a Comment

According to a recent article from TIME Magazine Midwest Fashion Week is the innovator for Fashion in the Midwest. Founded in 2006 by Haitian born designer Berny Martin of Catou Designs, Martin began designing clothes at the age of 8 and gone on to open several store front locations nationwide and has been showcased during BET’s RIP the Runway and New York Fashion Week.

Midwest Fashion Week kicks off on Wednesday October 17 in Indianapolis and according to Martin this will be one of the most diverse shows ever with designers coming in from Europe, Pakistan, India, South America, the Caribbean, and of course from all across the Midwest! “We are proud to present the designers; they come from various cultures, ethnic backgrounds, religions, economical status, and more” said Martin in a statement.

Martin and Midwest Fashion Week has done it all from community work, helping small businesses, discovering Supermodels, and creating a connection between fashion and sports designing custom suites for players on the Indianapolis Colts, and yes even lending a helping hand right here in Dayton during the city’s first Fashion Week in July.

Here’s a look at Midwest Fashion Week line up and for ticket info please visit http://www.midwestfashionweek.com there will be no tickets sold at the door.

When: Wednesday October 17, 2012 doors open at 6pm

Where: The Arts Garden, Indianapolis, 110 West Washington St., Indianapolis, IN

Designers: Ali Robbins & Josie Wharton, Catou by Berny Martin, Jhanelle Baker,Lanae Monique by Lanae Stovall, and Poppy Seeds by Danisha Brown & Krista Alter

When: Thursday October 18, 2012 doors open at 6pm

Where: The Arts Garden, Indianapolis, 110 West Washington St., Indianapolis, IN

Designers: Ana Lyn by Carole Anne Housman, Electric Image by Carole Toole, Derek Hill, Gorgeous Ways by Parul Aneja, and Madame Couture by Securittee Brown

When: Friday October 19, 2012 doors open at 7pm

Where: The Arts Garden, Indianapolis, 110 West Washington St., Indianapolis, IN

Designers: Pesévérer (PRSVR) by Brandon Williamson, Anton Alexander by Anton Babich Ayesha Ibrahim, Gidi by Taneasha Prunty, Zathan Marcs,Perfection by Francesca Alejo, and Replica by Sharon Evans

When: Saturday October 20, 2012

Where: The Blue Lounge, 240 South Meridian Street, Indianapolis, IN 46225

Event: Fashion Industry VIP Reception

Fashion Changing Lives

October 5, 2012 By Caressa Brown Leave a Comment

On Saturday, October 6^th WDTN Channel 2’s Marsha Bonhart will Emcee the We Care Arts local celebrity fashion show. We Care Arts provides manual arts therapy workshop experiences for physically, mentally and emotionally handicapped individuals to enhance self-esteem and learn job skills.

Some of the local celebrities from the community will include, Judy Dodge, Ohio State Senator Peggy Lehner, and Kettering Mayor Don Patterson. Also modeling will be some of the We Care Arts clients.

Tickets are $30 for the lunch and style show and the event kicks off at 10am at the Mandalay Banquet Center and the theme for this years show is “Fashion Changing Lives”. The fashions for the runway will be provided by Kohl’s of Centerville and their will be venders from Dove Chocolates, Mary Kay Cosmetics, HandZenFeet, Tastefully Simple, Pampered Chef, Savona Restaurant, and Party Lite.

For more information on We Care Arts please visit their website at http://www.wecarearts.org.

The Anatomy of Dayton Fashion Week(Part 2): The Success Stories

September 3, 2012 By Caressa Brown Leave a Comment

International Fashion House Azucar

The bar was set high for the Inaugural Dayton Fashion Week, what started out as just a fun idea grew and grew and in the age of social networking word soon traveled outside of the city, outside of the state, and oh yeah outside of the country!! Who would have thought that little old Dayton, OH would cause such a stir in the Fashion World that even the people at Italian Vogue’s party during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in Miami would be talking about us and watching us…after all this was just the first one! The designer submission for DFW 2013 have already started rolling in starting with South Africa’s International Fashion House Azucar who has already signed on!

In this first year, we faced it all controversy, skepticism, criticism, and attempts of sabotage, yet we were lifted up each time by friendships, support, faith, determination, shared visions, encouragement, opportunity, and outreach, making dealing with the negativity from a handful of individuals much easier to ignore and here we stand today with success in our hands.

In the days and weeks leading up to and following Dayton Fashion Week, I experienced a rollercoaster of emotions from a huge sense of accomplishment to asking myself if I ever wanted to be a part of something like this again…especially since I wasn’t in it for personal gain; I was and still in it because I love this city! Each time I thought about throwing in the towel I was reminded and motivated by those who stood behind me and had my back when we faced adversity, next to me when there was work to be done, and in front of me when it came time to take the lead and show the world just who and what Dayton Fashion week was and is all about. I found that the support far out numbered the naysayers…and I can proudly look back at our first year with ABSOLUTELY NO REGRETS!!

The success stories that have followed in the past couple of weeks speak for themselves and have made it all worth it, starting with:

“The Face” of Dayton Fashion Week

Celebrity photographer Rich Jackson was in the building during Dayton Fashion Week doing some scouting. Rich has been credited

DFW Model Olivia Nichols wearing designs by Dlang Ferguson, Jewelry by Serket, photo by Rich Jackson

with discovering some of the today’s top models and entertainers. During his stay here in Dayton he hand selected 9 models from Dayton Fashion Week that caught his eye during our Kids Couture and Ready To Wear shows. Including Jessica Ventus, Kayla Holts, AjA Howard, Ashley Jones, Grace Langshaw, Dana Langshaw, Erica Skrylac, Jeanne Kinne, and Olivia Nichols who was named “The Face” of Dayton Fashion Week; Olivia has gone on to do other shoots with Rich for national campaigns!

Abercrombie & Fitch signs Dayton Fashion Week Model

Model Josh Reid signs with Abercrombie & Fitch

Joshua Reid was discovered while walking the runway of Dayton Fashion Week by scouts from Abercrombie & Fitch who were in attendance and as of today Josh is officially the newest face of A&F!

“The Hidden Gem”

According to McKinley Pierre, the Executive Producer of Miami, FL based fashion series Inside Couture Dayton designer L’Amour Ameer stole the show! From his creative runway presentation to his multipurpose multifunctioning designs—“Look! Up on the runway!! It’s a bag, it’s a—wait for it…wait for it…Wow it’s a jacket??” Mr. Ameer’s showcase during DFW had people cheering in their seats and left the people from Inside Couture in awe naming him the “Show Stopper” and “Hidden Gem” of Dayton Fashion Week!

Sew Dayton Opens for Business!

What can I say about Dayton designer Tracy McElfresh other than the fact that she was a God send during DFW! Not only was she one of our most popular designers appearing with us on Living Dayton, FOX 45 In The Morning, and appearing in F.I.Q. Magazine but when Junda suffered her stroke days before the kickoff of DFW Tracy stepped up, took over some of my duties and became my right hand woman when it came to answering most of the contractual questions being asked of me by designers. So, I’m super excited for her new business Sew Dayton; in conjunction with Activated Spaces Tracy and her business Partner Jesy Anderson will open their own clothing shop complete with original designs from Tracy, hand bags designed by Jesy, and they will even offer sewing lessons! Located in the Oregon District across from Thai 9, Sew Dayton will open its doors this Friday Sept 7!

Sarah Tyrchniewicz of Pretty In Dayton

Pretty In Dayton gets invited to the Big Apple

Another God send was Fashion blogger Sarah Tyrchniewicz of Pretty In Dayton, like Tracy, Sarah stepped up and took over some of my duties when Junda fell ill and helped us to keep the ball rolling. And in the process, her honest, sincere, and edgy writing style caught the attention of designers who are participating in New York Fashion Week which kicks off this week! They invited her to sit in the audience and do what she does best give her thoughts and opinions on the latest fashion trends hitting the runway and the streets! Though she had to decline the late invites we’re pretty confident that Sarah and Pretty In Dayton will continue to capture the fashion worlds attention!

Photographer of the Year!

Dayton Fashion Week Photographer Lamar Pacley has been nominated for Photographer of The Year for the 2012 Ohio Hip Hop Awards! Lamar played a huge role in the success of Dayton Fashion Week, from scouting models, shooting the cover of F.I.Q. Magazine, and working with the designers to name a few. Lamar definitely has our vote you can vote for him too at http://survey.websitegear.com/launch/29437/173!

Moving Forward

Photographer Lamar Pacley of Shuttereye Photo

These are just a handful of the success stories that have unfolded in the last couple of weeks from members of Team DFW! I’ve been approached about creating a Designer Incubator for the Midwest, Dayton Fashion Week caught the eye of producers from Naomi Campbell’s new reality show “The Face” and requested some information about several of our models, Dayton Fashion Week models and designers will be on a big screen near you soon after being cast as extras and stylist for a feature film being shot locally, DFW Events Manager Cindy Gaboury is writing for a new magazine called Envision Chronicle, you’ll also see the work of one of DFW’s models on a national hit show soon, and DFW Designer and CEO of Midwest Fashion Week Berny Martin will be showcasing his Spring 2013 designs during New York Fashion Week Emerge Show just to mention a few more!

The Inaugural Dayton Fashion Week has made its mark in the Fashion Industry and Fashion Weeks from across the country and fashion insiders from around the world have reached out to us for support and to help us grow to make it to the next level! The 2012 Dayton Fashion Week consisted of a lot of educating, trial and error, lessons learned, adjusting, adapting, communication, and corrections. Coming into this year we only had 3 people who were familiar with Fashion Weeks– myself, Junda, and one other model– now we have 300! The planning for the 2013 Dayton Fashion Week is currently underway. Stay tuned for details on how you can become a part of the planning process! For more information on Dayton Fashion Week be sure to “Like” us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/daytonfashion .

The Anatomy of Dayton Fashion Week: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (Part 1)

August 3, 2012 By Caressa Brown Leave a Comment

Lawd a mercy…where do I even start?? When I first heard that someone was trying to bring a Fashion Week to Dayton in September of 2011, I immediately got excited and went to work on trying to find out who this Junda Morris-Kennedy person was, I called, I wrote, I googled, I Facebooked, pretty much I stalked her until she finally responded!! I offered my assistance thinking that this Dayton Fashion Week thing was just going to be a cute little fashion show—BOY WAS I WRONG because This “Dayton Fashion Week Thing” turned out to be an International Fashion Spectacular that can only be summed up into three categories: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly…of course there was more Good than anything else.(que Ennio Morricone please)

The Good

The Friendships: Excuse me while I get a little teary eye’d and sappy but in the course of the past 10 months I had the opportunity to meet some of the most wonderful people and even better we became more than friends we became a family.

To the models, I want you to know how much I love and respect each and every one of you! As a former model myself, I set out to do for all of you the things that I wish I had accomplished in my career! Modeling isn’t an easy career to break into and all too often your hard work, passion, and dedication are dismissed and go unappreciated because you are “just a blank slate” and I want you to know that you are more than that. From the very first calls that we made to you after the casting calls and hearing your excitement and even tears of joy made me feel like a Fairy Godmother making a dream come true. And every event thereafter you went out and represented Dayton Fashion Week and let the whole world know that we had officially arrived on the Fashion Scene.

To the designers, WOW is all that I know to say!! Actually Wow and Thank You! It wasn’t an easy process finding designers to be a part of the first year of Dayton Fashion Week. I remember sitting at Junda’s house going over plans for the casting call and being really worried about the lack of commitments that we had from designers and doubting whether or not we could go on as planned with DFW. But in true DFW style we continued to reach out and slowly but surely you all answered the call, stepping out on Faith and risking your names and reputations to be a part of this Inaugural event. To say that I was blown away by your presentations throughout the week would be the understatement of the century! Your drive and push to make this event the success that it was will never be forgotten. I’ll be hitting some of you up soon for my custom orders!!

To the Photography team, Lamar Pacely, Robert Coyle, Pete Bradow, Krissy Mills, Cj Kim, and Cliff Fennell, I don’t know very many if any photographers let alone photographers as talented as you all are, who are willing to give up so much of their time voluntarily. You rose to the occasion with each phone call and yes even the last minute cover shoot calls!! If a picture tells a thousand words then your efforts made it a thousand and one!

To the Hair and Makeup Team— Great job Angelica Ross DFW’s Creative Director of Cosmetics, Elite Hair Academy, Stacia McVey, and The Hair Gallery. McKinnley Pierre of Inside Couture said it best, “Dayton Fashion Week’s Hair and Makeup team was better than any such teams that I’ve seen in Miami Fashion Week, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, and L.A. Fashion Week, so my hat’s off to them.” What more can I say?

To Maha Kashani—thank you so much for welcoming me to your hood!! lol From the very moment that I contacted you about DFW. You jumped on board and worked your butt off to make sure that this event was a success. You are Dayton, you are the bomb, you are the best, you are amazing, you are fabulous, and all of the positive adjectives that you can name but most importantly you are my friend. Without you and your work there wouldn’t be a Dayton Fashion Week.

To Junda Morris-Kennedy—We did it!! This was not an easy journey, we climbed up the rough side of the mountain together and I’m honored to call you more than a friend you are my sister. We put in countless hours in planning, we worked together, cried together, we even disagreed a couple of times, and when push came to shove…we always had each others back and like real sisters we toughed it out, stepped out on faith, kept God first, and kept on climbing to the top of that mountain. Thank you so much for taking me under your wing and teaching me another side of the industry, for believing in me, and allowing me to be a part of a positive event for the city I love! I love you from the bottom of my heart.

The Bad

In the days and weeks leading up to Dayton Fashion Week we were rocked by a series of tragedies that shook us to the core. Junda suffered the loss of several family members back to back and 6 days before the Kickoff to Dayton Fashion Week on July 18 at the age of 37, Junda suffered a stroke. I was thrown into the leadership position and was faced with answering a challenging question…Will DFW continue? Not knowing all of the details of the business end of things, I called a last minute emergency meeting that was opened with prayer led by DFW Event Manager Cindy Gaboury and the number of people that showed up and the outpouring of support I received gave me the strength to go on and reaffirmed that cancellation WAS NOT AN OPTION!!

On Friday July 20, DFW’s Executive Producer and MTV’s Made Coach Kyle Haggerty, called his best friend to pick him up to take him to the airport to fly into Dayton and help with Dayton Fashion Week’s preparations. The weather was bad that day and his friend never arrived because he had been killed in a car accident on his way to pick up Kyle leaving him completely devastated and cancelling his trip to be a aprt of DFW.

On Sunday July 22, our Director of Public Relations Tamieka Kent had to step down from her DFW duties when she received a phone call requiring her to leave town to be at her mother’s side who had emergency open heart surgery.

The Ugly

I’ll keep this short,in the days leading up to DFW and when Dayton Fashion Week was struggling to survive after being rocked by back to back to back tragedies there were attempts made to kick us when we were down by those who we bent over backwards for the most to help and accommodate. Did I mention those were FAILED ATTEMPTS??

Back To The Good

Surely you didn’t think that I was going to let the ugly outshine the good right? As McKinnely Pierre the Executive Producer of Inside Couture told me when he called to check on me the other day. “Don’t let a couple of barking dogs steal your joy, especially when you have hundreds of silent ones standing behind you who have your back”. This is only the beginning and you know my motto Dayton Fashion Week #ItJustKeepsGettinBetter 2013 here we come!! News Flash WE ALREADY HAVE DESIGNERS FROM BRAZIL, LONDON, SOUTH AFRICA, INDIA, JAMAICA, AND YES DAYTON GETTING READY FOR 2013

Stay tuned for Part 2 and be sure to check out our Facebook Page to see all of the wonderful images captured by Dayton Fashion Weeks Photographers at Facebook.com/daytonfashion.

The Top 10 Reasons Why Dayton Fashion Week Is a Must See Event

July 20, 2012 By Caressa Brown Leave a Comment

Dayton Fashion Week Takes place July 24-28

Alright everybody, after months of planning, promoting, talking about, writing about, through all of the ups and downs that we have experienced—Dayton Fashion Week is finally here AND IT’S GONNA BE HAUTE!!! The Schedule is as follows:

July 24 Fashion For A Cause Local Celebrity Fashion Show at the Masonic Temple 6p-9p
July 25 Dayton Most Metro Presents Fashion In Downtown at Court House Square 4p-9p
July 26 Kids Fashion Collection at The Bainbridge Hall the show starts at 6p
July 27 Ready to Wear Collection at the Dayton Convention Center the doors open at 5p show starts at 6:30
July 28 Haute Couture Doors open at 5p show starts at 6:30p.

For those of you who have been living under a rock and haven’t heard about Dayton Fashion Week or maybe you were a little skeptical about whether or not Team DFW could actually pull off an event of this magnitude, or maybe just maybe you’ve heard about it and just needed a little reminder about all of the great things that will be taking place this week. So I’ve compiled a Top 10 List of why Dayton Fashion Week is a Must See Event!

10. Dayton Fashion Week was named a “Must See” Fashion Event of The Year by F-Politique Magazine in London England.

9. Dayton Fashion Week is being Executive Produced by Kyle Haggerty MTV’s MADE Coach.

8. Dayton Fashion Week will be covered by Miami, FL based fashion series Inside Couture and word is Dayton Fashion Week was on everyone’s lips during the Italian Vogue Party last week during Miami Fashion Week.

7. Dayton Fashion Week will be covered by Phoenix, AZ based Fashion-Faces Magazine and Television Show who also featured Dayton Fashion Week models during the Cover Model Contest for F.I.Q. Magazine.(What’s F.I.Q. you may be asking well check out Reason # 2 on why Dayton Fashion Week is a Must See Event but don’t skip Reasons # 6-3)

6. Dayton Fashion Week is featuring over 90 of the hottest models from around the world and close to 80% of them are from right here in the Miami Valley!

America's Next Top Model Contestant Laura Kirkpatrick Phot by Jonathan-Mannion

Do you wanna be on top? That’s right America’s Next Top Model Cycle 13 Runner Up and Cycle 17 All-Star Contestant Laura Kirkpatrick will debut her Grumbage Line during Dayton Fashion Week and she’s bringing some of her America’s Next Top Model friends to strut their stuff on the runway of Dayton Fashion Week.

4. Dayton Fashion Week’s After Party at Club Vault will feature performances by American Idol’s Season 8 Contestant Ashley Mendez and DJ Trick who has toured with Lady Gaga and Justin Timberlake, and will be hosted by Spokes Model and Actress Gigi

3. Dayton Fashion Week gives back, from day one Dayton Fashion Week has made giving back and reaching out to the community a priority! Whether it’s collecting can goods during Casting Calls, to participating in builds for Habitat for Humanity, getting a little muddy volunteering during the Mud Volleyball for Epilepsy Tournaments, to raising money for the Hospice of Dayton and Clothes That Work. Dayton Fashion Week is here to make a positive impact on the community.

Dayton Fashion Week Model Raynel Scott prepares to install some insulation during Dayton Fashion Week Habitat For Humanity Build

2. Dayton Fashion Week will debut the HOTTEST Fashion and Lifestyle print magazine the city has ever seen. F.I.Q.(Fashion Index Quarterly). All ticket holders to the July 27&28 events will receive a complimentary copy of F.I.Q. Magazine featuring 68 pages of some of the most talented writers, designers, models, makeup artist, hair stylist, photographers, community figures, and business owners and the very first issue is dedicated to and featuring the talented people of the Miami Valley Area.

1. Dayton Fashion Week is featuring 22 of the world best designers! We have International designer s like Bothdol Fashions from Nigeria, National Designers like 1847 & Co, and to make this journey complete we are featuring local designers and Boutiques: Temiki Jewelry, Kerapa by Sonya Mills, Jamilla Jones, Tracy McElfresh, J’Norreh by Nakeisha Maroney, Gill Mart & Co., L”amour Ameer, Joli Boutique, Pieces of Style, Serket Jewelry, and Love The Limelight by Amy Longo.

Well there you have it folks the Top 10 Reason’s why Dayton Fashion Week is a Must See Event!! And if you still aren’t convinced why you should check it out well—BECAUSE I SAID SO!! No but seriously, Dayton Fashion Week is being put together by close to 300 volunteers from the CEO Junda Morris-Kennedy to yours truly Caressa Brown the Director of Operations we haven’t drawn a single pay check for planning out this event. We believe in the City of Dayton and the talent that it possesses. We want to grow a new market here to help retain the talent that the city and surrounding areas has to offer. The designers have been investing their own money into the designs being showcased, the models, photographers, makeup artist, hairstylist have been giving freely of their time working hard to make this event successful, our sponsors have faith in us and are committed to seeing our vision thru, and last but not least DAYTON not only ROCK BUT The DYT is FIERCE!!!! Dayton Fashion Week #ItJustKeepsGettinBetter

Win a Chance to Walk in Dayton Fashion Week at the Dayton Dutch Lions Game July 18

July 16, 2012 By Caressa Brown Leave a Comment

Models lined up outside in the cold and rain for Dayton Fashion Weeks Casting Call

Did you miss out on your opportunity to be seen during one of Dayton Fashion Weeks casting calls? Were you not lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time to be scouted while grocery shopping like DFW models Jaylin Snider and Maoly Ricardo? Well, Dayton Fashion Week and the Dayton Dutch Lions F.C. Soccer team are giving you one more opportunity to strut your stuff before a panel of DFW Scouts, Leo The Lion, and oh yeah hundreds of fans in attendance cheering on the Dutch Lions Men’s Soccer team during half-time on Wednesday July 18, 2012. The game starts at 7:30pm at Miami Valley South Stadium located at 3737 Upper Bellbrook Rd., Bellbrook, OH, 45305.

The Inaugural Dayton Fashion Week has taken the Fashion World by storm, named a “Must See” Fashion event of the year by London Based fashion magazine F-Politique, and will feature international, national, and local designers, models, and media. Dayton Fashion Week kicks off on Tuesday July 24 and runs thru Saturday July 28. DFW models are receiving once in a lifetime opportunities including taking part in seminars conducted by Executive Producer McKinley Pierre of Miami based television show Inside Couture and Celebrity photographer Rich Jackson who discovered Jessica Sutta of the Pussycat Dolls, they are receiving Runway lessons by MTV’s Made Coach Kyle Haggerty who is also the Executive Producer of Dayton Fashion Week. Dayton Fashion Week models have been featured in Fashion-Faces Magazine out of Phoenix, AZ, and this just in DFW models will be featured in Europe’s Fashion & Styles Magazine just to name a few.

The Dayton Dutch Lions and their Orange Legion have been taking the USL by storm and on July 20-21, former Dutch National Player Bryan Roy will be in town conducting a Skills Clinic for kids. The Dutch Lions will be raffling off tickets to each of Dayton Fashion Weeks events during the game on July 18, including the Fashion For A Cause Local Celebrity Fashion Show featuring both the Dutch Lions Men’s and Women’s Teams and Nixon Dias #4 Defender and one of the top DJ’s in the Netherlands will be mixing it up on the 1’s and 2’s for the event as well; proceeds from the raffle will be given to a charity of the Dayton Dutch Lions choice!! For ticket information for Wednesday’s game please visit the Dayton Dutch Lions website at http://www.daytondutchlionsfc.com and “Like” them on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/DaytonDutchLionsFC . For more information on Dayton Fashion Week please visit http://www.daytonfashionweek.com and “Like” their page at http://www.facebook.com/daytonfashion.

Dayton Fashion Week and De’Lish Café To Host a First Friday’s Model Meet and Greet

July 3, 2012 By Caressa Brown Leave a Comment

DFW's Pre-Launch Soiree was a sold out event and standing room only!

What do you get when you combine one of the most talked about events taking place in Dayton this summer and one of the chicest Restaurants in the Heart of Downtown Dayton—You get Dayton Fashion Week and De’Lish Café’s First Friday’s Model Meet and Greet! With Dayton Fashion Week’s Inaugural event just weeks away they are getting the party started this Friday July 6 and this event is something that your entire family can attend!

From 6pm-8pm, DFW and De’Lish will have an Ice Cream Social for the DFW Kid Models. During this portion of the event, the kids will be introduced to attendees and there will be ice cream floats, music and games! Then from 9pm-2am it will be the adult models turn to mix and mingle; still reveling in the success of DFW’s Pre-Launch Soiree in March, models selected from the second round of Casting Calls in May will be introduced.

Aside from hosting 2 out of 3 casting calls for DFW, Jasmine Brown Co-Owner of De’Lish Cafe had this to say about her involvement with Dayton Fashion Week, “As a fashion enthusiast I’m really excited to see this happen in our city! Dayton is a very eclectic and artsy city so it’s not too far-fetched that we can do fashion as well. At De’Lish we try to correlate our food into art with the presentations, so for us we’re just excited to be a part of something so big.”

This event is free and open to the public, there will be lite hors d’oeuvres served but De’Lish will also have their full menu available for those who would like to purchase a full meal. De’Lish is located at 139 North Main Street Dayton, OH 45402 right across the street from The Victoria Theatre. Also, De’Lish Café’s well known Chef Anthony Head will be grilling out on De’Lish’s newly opened patio. Tickets for Dayton Fashion Week are on sale now at De’Lish Café, SunWatch Indian Village, Joli Boutique, American Pi, and they are also available online at http://daytonfashionweek.com/html/tickets.html. Tickets are going fast so be sure to buy yours today!!

Models stood outside in the cold and rain for a chance to be seen by DFW's panel of judges during their 3rd casting call.

Dayton Fashion Week and the Dayton Dutch Lions Soccer Team to Bring Fans a Unique Half-Time Show

June 27, 2012 By Caressa Brown Leave a Comment

The Dayton Dutch Lions Soccer games are about to get a lot more fashionable!! On Friday June 29 the Dutch Lions will be taking on the Northern Virginia Majestic and welcoming the models from Dayton Fashion Week for a unique Half-Time presentation. Fans are being asked to come to both the women’s and men’s game wearing their most fashionable outfits for a chance to win tickets to Dayton Fashion Week and a Spa Treatment at Beaute Box.

During the women’s game which starts at 5pm the models will be selecting kids from the Dutch Lions Youth Academy and kids from the crowd to be a part of a mini-fashion show and runway challenge during Half-Time. The child that shows the most personality during their runway presentation will receive a pair of tickets to Dayton Fashion Weeks Kids Fashion Show taking place on Thursday July 26, 2012, the winner will be selected by team mascot Leo The Lion and models from Dayton Fashion Week.

Dayton Fashion Week models, staff, and volunteers are regulars at Dutch Lions Game.

For the men’s game which starts at 8pm, Leo and the models will be selecting the best dressed fans out of the crowd for a mini-fashion show and runway challenge during Half-Time as well. The winner of the contest will receive a Spa Treatment at Beaute Box and a pair of Tickets to Dayton Fashion Week’s Ready To Wear Show on Friday July 27, 2012.

Both games takes place at The Miami Valley South Stadium located at 3737 Upper Bellbrook Rd, Bellbrook, Ohio, 45305. General admission ticket prices for kids are $6 and adult tickets prices are $12 for the game. For more information about tickets and the Dayton Dutch Lions Soccer team please visit their website at http://www.daytondutchlionsfc.com/site/. Tickets are also on sale for Dayton Fashion Week please visit their website at http://www.daytonfashionweek.com to purchase your tickets today!!

Dayton Fashion Week’s Salute To The Troops!

May 22, 2012 By Caressa Brown Leave a Comment

Dayton Fashion Week will be debuting a fashion/lifestyle magazine magazine in July–though it will be geared and promoted towards a national audience the first edition will be dedicated to the people of Dayton because we wouldn’t be where we are today without you all!! We will be highlighting, local models, designers, artist, entertainers, business owners, community leaders, and etc.

For those of you who don’t know Junda Morris-Kennedy, the Founder of Dayton Fashion Week recently relocated to the Dayton Area when her husband who is in the U.S. Air Force received new orders to be stationed at Wright-Patt Air Force Base, we have several models who have served our country including William Willet who was in the Marine Corp., Nakiesha Maroney who is currently stationed at WPAFB, our makeup artist ShaTerra Mills served in the Army, and I personally come from a military family as well, my dad was a Drill Sergeant in the Marines, my oldest brother was in the Army and served in the first Gulf War, my oldest sister was in the Navy, and my older brother is currently a Master Sergeant in the Marines and is serving in Afghanistan. So as you can see we have nothing but love and respect for our service men and women.

One of the highlights of the first edition of Dayton Fashion Weeks magazine(whose name will be revealed in June) will be a salute to our troops and a feature story on how WPAFB has played a vital role to the Miami Valley’s growth! We are looking to profile several active duty members of the U.S. Air Force who are currently stationed at WPAFB along with other local service men and women! If you or someone you know would like to be a part of DFW’s Salute To The Troops feature story please send an email to [email protected]. Please include your contact information and a brief bio. We look forward to hearing from you!!

Dayton Fashion Week Gives Back

May 14, 2012 By Caressa Brown Leave a Comment

When you think of the Fashion Industry as a whole, the first thoughts that probably come to mind are the vain egotistical plots and twist of the hit movie The Devil Wears Prada. Though bits and pieces of that movie may be true for some but in actuality behind that thin veneer of superficiality is one of the most philanthropically known industries in this country. Whether it’s Ralph Lauren’s Pink Pony Fund to fight breast cancer, to Ken Coles AmFar Foundation for AIDS Research, to Gucci’s partnership with UNIECF, giving back has always been a key component of the Fashion Industry.

If you’ve ever visited the Facebook page of Dayton Fashion Week you’ll notice that we are listed as a Community Organization. When I first came on board at DFW in October 2011, Junda and I both emphasized the importance of not just giving back but reaching out to the people of the Miami Valley. For me it was second nature to be active in the community, I’ve been a volunteer since the age of 12, volunteering for such organizations as The Buckeye Trails Girl Scout Council as a Camp Aide, to the Anpo O Project which delivers school supplies the Standing Rock Reservation in S.Dakota where the dropout rate for students is 85%, to The Action Youth Outreach Program which teaches entrepreneurial skills for inner city and “at-risk” youth using STEM Curriculum, to being a Guest Speaker for the My Beauty is Priceless Seminars which teaches young girls tools of empowerment from spirituality, cooking, education, and personal appearance, not to mention I sign up to volunteer for almost every event that takes place in the City of Dayton!

For Junda, who is new to the area this would serve as her opportunity to see just how great the people of the City of Dayton and surrounding areas are. Since word of Dayton Fashion Week broke Junda has been blown away by all of the hospitality, support, and encouragement that everyone has shown towards our Inaugural event! During our first two casting calls, we collected can goods for the Dayton Food Pantry and doesn’t stop there–we are very happy to present Dayton Fashion Week Gives Back! On Saturday May 19 we will be launching the first of many outings geared towards giving back to the community and raising awareness for important causes starting with our models and staff taking part in a build for Habitat for Humanity http://www.daytonhabitat.org.

Dayton Fashion Week Models pose for pictures during Urban Nights

As a producer for 91.3 FM WYSO’s Community Voices, I’ve been working on a story about The Vision Keepers and The Circle of Courage re-entry and recovery program which is a local non-profit organization that provides clothing, bus tokens, emergency toiletries and support groups. Founded by the late Dr. Robin Herman, the organization is now headed up by the 2011 Justice Award recipient Khadijah Ali and falls under the 2011 Dayton’s Ten Top Women Award recipient MaryAnn Angel’s Two Tree organization, http://www.twotreesinc.org/vision_keepers.shtml. Dayton Fashion Week will host a fundraiser for this organization in August of 2012. More details will be announced soon.

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m very cautious of the company that I keep and I apply those same life rules to DFW and I’m honored to be amongst such good company. I’ve heard several models refer to Dayton Fashion Week as a family and I can honestly say that we probably have the most amazing team filled with positive, caring and supportive people who aside from our love for fashion we are also into building each other up and building lasting bonds and friendships.

Since our Pre-Launch Party in March the models have been asking us to get together for a fun outing sp that we can spend more time getting to know each other and it was suggested that we form a team and be a part of the Mud Volley for Epilepsy. So when I called the Epilepsy Foundation of Western Ohio to inquire about what was needed to form a team I was a surprised when the Director asked us to do more than just form a team she wanted us to form a partnership–after all we’re both very small organizations, and both heavily dependent on volunteers so we came up with a couple of ideas about how we can help each other out we will be providing more details soon but in the meantime be sure to sign your team up at http://www.daytonmud.com. We hope to see you all on July 14!!

July 24 will mark the official start of Dayton Fashion Week and we will be kicking things off with Fashion for a Cause! This event will consist of a silent auction, live entertainment, and a local celebrity fashion show. Proceeds from this event will go to our charitable partners Clothes That Work http://www.clothesthatwork.org and Hospice of Dayton http://www.hospiceofdayton.org . This event will take place from 6pm-9pm at the Dayton Masonic Temple located at 525 W. Riverview Ave., Dayton OH 45405.

July 28 does not mark the end of Dayton Fashion Week’s activities for 2012. We are 100% committed to being a part of the revitalization of Dayton and the entire Miami Valley year round. For more details about how you can help out with these worthy causes please click on the links provided and for more information on Dayton Fashion Week Gives Back please “Like” our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/daytonfashion.