By Tim Perry
Sedona, AZ — On Saturday, October 10, Fashion Lab Sedona will host its third Sustainable Fashion Show at Brady Hall at Verde Valley School in the Village of Oak Creek from 4:30 to 7 p.m., bringing together more than 20 local designers, makers, boutiques, artists and community businesses for an evening that will place creativity, sustainability and Sedona ingenuity at center stage.
Not simply a fashion show, Fashion Lab Sedona is part runway show, part design competition, part local marketplace, part performance art and partly a community experiment in what fashion could become when creativity replaces consumption. As fast fashion continues to accelerate a culture of buy-it, wear-it, toss-it, Sedona is offering a radically different alternative: make something extraordinary out of what already exists.
Guests will encounter upcycled runway fashion, local jewelry designers, perfume makers, resale and vintage fashion, community vendors, raffle prizes, food and drink, VIP experiences and a special dance performance presented by Sedona Dance Academy and inspired by The Devil Wears Prada. Local resale businesses including Closet Concierge will join an expanding collection of Sedona-area makers and businesses participating in the evening. Later in the evening, Sedona-based models will take to the runway to displace local designers’ upcycled creations.
“Fashion is one of the most visible ways we tell the world who we are. We want Sedona to become known for leadership in sustainable fashion,” Fashion Lab Sedona Founder Zenka Caro said, calling the experience “self-expression on steroids.”
The October 10 runway experience will serve as the culmination of weeks of workshops, pop-ups, model searches and design experiences leading up to Fashion Lab Sedona’s intensive 48-Hour Fashion Lab Create-a-Thon. Under the direction of Mary Dancer Browne, participating designers will take discarded clothing, thrifted finds, recycled materials and forgotten fabrics and turn them into runway-ready looks in just 48 hours. More than 20 emerging and established designers will ultimately send their creations down one runway, with competing designers vying for the $5,000 FABRIC Incubator Sustainable Fashion Design Award.
The show will be produced and directed by Nathan Quinn of By Design Entertainment International, bringing the individual creations together into one theatrical evening of fashion, movement and storytelling.
Fashion Lab Sedona is built around the belief that smaller communities can help lead cultural change by creating models that are joyful enough for people to actually want to participate in them. Instead of approaching the environmental problems surrounding fashion through statistics about waste and pollution, Fashion Lab Sedona approaches the issue through desire, beauty, ingenuity and play, seeking to demonstrate that a small city can become a laboratory for the future of fashion.
The third Fashion Lab Sedona Sustainable Fashion Show will take place on Saturday, October 10, at Verde Valley School in the Village of Oak Creek from 4:30 to 7 p.m. Tickets are available at fashionlabsedona.com. General admission tickets are $35 in advance or $50 at the door. VIP tickets are $100 and include premier seating, first access to vendors, a designer and donor meet-and-greet, champagne and hors d’oeuvres.
The Sustainable Fashion Show is supported by a growing network of local and regional organizations and businesses, including FABRIC Incubator, the city of Sedona, The Dream Machine, ByDesign Entertainment, the Arizona Community Foundation, LightNet, BarrMart Designs, Ultimate Light Mission, Tre Visio Productions, The Closet Concierge, Jones Ford Verde Valley, Arizona Community Foundation and other community partners
For media and sponsorship inquiries, contact Tim Perry at timothydperry@gmail.com or 808-497-0579.
• Fashion Lab Sedona is a community-based creative initiative using fashion as a laboratory for sustainability, self-expression, entrepreneurship and local leadership. Through workshops, design challenges, upcycling events, collaborations and its annual Sustainable Fashion Show, Fashion Lab Sedona invites people to see discarded materials not as waste, but as possibility.
Less waste. More imagination. Made in Sedona.
