By Erin Walsh
Befitting the borough’s industrial roots, the inaugural three-day Queens Fashion Week kicked off Feb. 18 in the austere setting of Long Island City’s Standard Motor Lofts — a location geographically less than five miles away from Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in Manhattan’s Bryant Park, yet worlds apart in character.
Organized by veteran fashion designer Delali Osun Haligah, who owns the African-inspired clothing company Osun Designs, and hosted by Kew Gardens resident Mia Amber, a plus-size model, television producer and actor, the Queens Fashion Week gala opening featured clothing and accessories from local designers and boutiques, including Jamaica resident Qristyl Frazier of “Project Runway” fame.
The runway show featured designs for and models representative of all body types, in addition to the svelte model physiques typically associated with high fashion. Other activities during the three-day lineup included the Young Designers Initiative on Feb. 19 at the Manhattan View Holiday Inn in Long Island City and Queens Fashion Expo on Feb. 20, also held at Long Island City’s Standard Motor Lofts.
Frazier, whose collection included designs ranging from asymmetrical denim dresses to flowing halter gowns, said that her inspiration is real women.
“I don’t call it plus-size — I call it plus-sexy,” she said.
She said that women of all body sizes require outfits for special occasions, and that she has received international demand for her designs as a result of appearing on Project Runway.
“Plus-sexy girls are all over the world,” she said. “Curvy girls are fashionistas, too.”
Guests sat on folding chairs as they viewed designs ranging from Jamaican-inspired streetwear for men and women, courtesy of St. Albans-based designer Michael Williams’ Eye Collection, to teeny-tiny swimwear by Woodside designer Monica Yepez. Host Amber kept the mood light by bantering with attendees and inviting aspiring models to walk the runway.
Williams, who sells his designs at boutiques locally in Jamaica and Brooklyn, deemed the event “excellent,” for its ability to bring the local fashion community together.
Queens Fashion Week organizer Haligah, who goes by the moniker Osun, started planning the event about a year ago in order to support the local fashion community.
“It’s about promoting small businesses,” she said. “That’s the difference between us and Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. I want people to be aware of people who are in your neighborhood. They exist. We reached in our pockets to put this on for the people of Queens.”
Sisters and fashion fanatics Sarah, 21, and Majda, 25, Fadika from Bayside not only attended the gala opening, but got the coveted opportunity to strut their stuff on the runway.
Sarah Fadika, a recent graduate of Boston University, hopes to break into the fashion industry and eventually serve as a marketing director of a fashion company.
“I am interested in fashion and wanted to see what was happening in Queens,” she said. “It’s entertaining. There are a lot of different designers that I haven’t seen. It’s always good to learn about different things.”
