Models in trendy clothing, a curved staircase, a blue sky.
A Roanoke cultural organization staged an event steeped in big-city class Sunday.
Fashionista Roanoke, a group founded in 2008 to push the creative arts here , capped its first ever Roanoke Fashion Week with a show of garments available in local stores. The setting, six floors up and decorated with pumpkins, was Center in the Square’s 4-month-old roof deck.
As a crowd of about 45 took their seats, Garland Gravely, founder of the group, remarked about the fun, expressive and personal nature of fashionable clothing.
“When you get up in the morning, you are a blank canvas. When you put on clothes, you’re telling the world who you are,” said the 44-year-old men’s fragrance specialist at Macy’s at Valley View Mall.
During an afternoon of California-like weather, male and female models strutted in evening wear, casual duds and sportswear. The casual outfits included a number of what Gravely called “country chic” outfits accessorized with boots, jackets and vests.
Tracking the runway, models descended a curved staircase, or emerged from just beneath it, passed a man-made pond with fish and a fountain and stepped before a politely applauding crowd seated in wooden chairs. As music thumped from speakers, an event photographer lay on the ground to get angles.
“The jackets look good,” said audience member Darlene Malanyam, 33, one of three residents of the Philippines who saw the show while in Roanoke during a Virginia tour. “The boots, too,” said Michelle Tan, her 24-year-old travel companion. They were with Randy Alon, 31.
About 25 amateur models presented the show, among them the three adult children of Deborah Freeman of Blue Ridge.
“It’s a confidence builder, a chance for young people to get out and do things they wouldn’t normally do,” she said, praising Fashionista Roanoke as a valuable influence for Derrick, 20, Felicia, 22, and Morgan, 23.
Imani Napper, 16, echoed that.
“This has added to me so much,” the Christiansburg High School student said. “You feel more confident.”
The theme of the fashion week was fashion’s intersection with culture, manifested by events tied to music, theater, film, art, photography and nature. Some of the action was captured in photos posted to the group’s Facebook page.
A few hundred people participated in or watched the events over eight days, according to Gravely, who intends to stage a fashion week in 2014 and try to make it an annual event.
Donations were collected Sunday for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.
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