SPARTANBURG, S.C. (WSPA) – You don’t have to be in Paris or Milan to see the latest runway trends, after a group of people in the Upstate came together to bring a week of runway shows to Spartanburg.
Sunday evening was the first ever ‘Spartanburg Fashion Week’ which concluded with 15 designers and 146 models that took the runway.
Executive Director for Spartanburg Fashion Week, Contessa Thompson’s career has always been about fashion.
“I have been a retailer in Spartanburg and surrounding areas for a long time,” Thompson said. “I started participating in starting to put my brand in fashion weeks across the region. I just enjoyed the experience, I enjoyed the collaboration, networking and also being around other fashion professionals.”
This is an experience, that some may say was missing in Spartanburg. After a lot of planning and preparation, that dream became a reality.
“I feel like we were being deprived and not having our own. I wanted to bring that here,” Thompson said.
“First ever ‘Spartanburg Fashion Week,’ this has been the first week, this is day 5 for us it has been a tremendous week,” Thompson said. “Today is our grand finale ‘Sparkle Effect Grande Finale,’ the event features 15 collections and a total participants of 300 people.”
These fashion shows are not just about fashion or style but community and bringing people together for a common good.
“To bring other people together, another way we can establish community because you know hard times out here in the world this is just something that brings smiles to people,” Runway model, Decha Jeter said.
First, you have to make sure to shake off the runway nerves, “You just got to remain calm be relaxed and just be in your element and just know you walking for yourself your peers and your family just know what you’re standing for and that makes it all better,” Jeter said.
Organizers said that next year’s fashion week is already in the works after a successful first week. 150 people attended the sold-out grand finale show.
