The first Quad Cities Fashion Week will show that splendor comes in all shapes, sizes, and colorations and that it’s more than pores and skin deep.
The younger ladies who’re leading the cooperative attempt have many desires — empowering the community thru arts and fashion, connecting customers with nearby groups, boosting the self-esteem of fashions a long time 6 to 60, and elevating money for an awesome motive.
The first QCFW fashion show will take location Saturday, April 27, within the conference rooms at Moline’s TaxSlayer Center, preceded with the aid of a Comedy Catwalk Thursday, April 25, at Davenport’s Village Theatre.
Organizers desire the display becomes an annual event.
“All of what our young ones see on TV and magazines are skinny, tall fashions that don’t represent many of us regular parents,” stated Justine Sibomana, Rock Island, a 25-year-antique clothing fashion designer, and QCFW organizer. “We need them to recognize that they’re stunning. We want them to recognize that you could make it right here inside the Q-C; you don’t should flow to big cities to pursue your goals.”
Sibomana, who works full time processing claims for a medical insurance enterprise, is amongst 14 local and Chicago-based totally designers whose creations could be featured at the style display. She founded Kwazzo DesignZ after mastering to crochet and sew while she becomes 15.
Kwazzo is an African word meaning “a move-getter,” and the apparel she designs carries the vibrancy of African styles.
“I fell in love with it. I commenced growing to clothe,” Sibomana stated. “I stored going and saved going. I didn’t get higher till I turned into likely 20, 21.” She commenced her clothing brand in 2017.
“She’s a cross-getter, without wanting the spotlight on her,” said her buddy, Jaime Henderkott, 19, of Davenport, a version who is been running for months to choose and teach different fashions for the display.
Sibomana’s first fashion show — at Augustana College in Rock Island ultimate June — was attended by over three hundred humans. “It became extraordinarily desirable,” she said, noting it brought about other suggests on the Figge Art Museum in Davenport and the California Military Institute, east of Los Angeles.
Henderkott works part-time at the UP Skybar in Davenport, and he or she met Sibomana there closing summer time. Sibomana took one take a look at Henderkott and knew she must be a model.
Sibomana requested Herderkott to model her designs and educate others to model when you consider that she’s signed with a Chicago modeling agency.
Showcasing nearby designers
“We got the concept, why do not we put on a bigger fashion show and allow our neighborhood boutiques placed on their personal display?” stated Henderkott. “Put on a mini fashion week to promote our local organizations and neighborhood designers.”
Fashion weeks are a culture within the style industry. Fashion designers display their trendy collections throughout the weeklong activities.
“It was so tough due to the fact we are just a bunch of young people,” Sibomana stated, noting she has a board of administrators to assist her to prepare the QCFW.
“We haven’t any experience in this part. For me, I’ve just been the person modeling inside the show,” Henderkott said. “I don’t sincerely recognize what goes on behind the scenes, however now I do. It’s stressful, however, it is so worth it. We’re incredibly excited.”
“People will literally visit Chicago to shop for a promenade get dressed, and we’ve top notch places here,” Sibomana stated. “We want to determine out a manner to connect with potential customers in an amusing manner, in a creative manner.”
“We deliberate the whole lot from scratch. It became really difficult,” she said. “It became notable how humans had been willing to sponsor crazy kids looking to dream about something that hasn’t been completed round right here. I’m simply thankful.”
The Quad-Cities designers and boutiques to be featured at QCFW consist of Aja Styles Fashion & Accessories, My Beautiful Fluff, Moore Divahs, Fashion-Forward Kids, Closet2Closet, and Salome.
To recruit fashions, they held a casting name final November, and 80 human beings showed up. “A lot of these people have by no means modeled earlier than, and we have been teaching them,” Henderkott stated. “I’ve been in their footwear so frequently.”
“We love our fashions,” Sibomana said, noting the 75 are a diverse lot, in age and look.
“You always see people like her at the screen, or in magazines,” Sibomana stated of her thin, 6-foot-tall friend. “It’s crucial to provide absolutely everyone — in particular plus-size fashions and those of different backgrounds. It’s terrific. It builds self-belief; it makes those ladies feel like they are able to do whatever.”
