Mackenzie Meleski, Contributing Writer
Camera flashes and bright spotlights lit up the runway as models strutted by wearing intricately-detailed pieces by Richmond designers.
VCU students started RVA Fashion Week in 2008, hoping to highlight the vision, celebrate and expand the potential of Richmond’s gifted, diverse fashion and arts community, according to the RVA Fashion Week website. Since then, the event has grown to feature dozens of creative talents and participation from businesses throughout Richmond.
The 15th RVA Fashion Week kicked off on Oct. 4 with Wellness Wednesday. Members of the fashion community visited participating Richmond-based businesses that focus on personal wellness and donations were made to St. Jude’s Research Hospital, according to the website.
Urban Academy presented a runway show on Thursday, featuring designs by Ryan Azia, Fitz Godwin and Sherry Nguyen. Models strutted the runway to a backdrop of a classroom, complete with “students” sitting at the table with books in hand and a chalkboard where one model wrote the names of victims of police brutality. The runway looks featured inspirations from collegiate sportswear and urban streetwear.
Sherry Nguyen founded Urban Academy after being inspired to make preppy and collegiate clothing more inclusive, she said.
“There’s something very elegant and simple about preppy wear, but also sophisticated,” Nguyen said. “I had an issue with the culture because it’s always been to a certain demographic. I wanted to include minority groups that get left out and start a brand that was high end but still inclusive.”
Along with Azia and Godwin, Nguyen designed the clothing collection and worked with RVA Fashion Week’s volunteer staff, models and stylists to bring the show to life, according to Nguyen. Urban Academy’s RVA Fashion Week presentation was Nguyen’s first professional fashion show.
Nguyen was inspired by the network and collaborative process of RVA Fashion Week and Richmond as a whole, she said.
“I owe a lot of my success and inspiration to Richmond,” Nguyen said. “I’m blessed to have grown up here where art is at the center of everybody’s hearts. Having the support of Richmond helped me thrive.”
Samantha Carson, a Richmond local, attended the Urban Academy Fashion Show to support her friends in the fashion industry. She has attended two other RVA Fashion Week events in the past, she said.
“I definitely feel inspired by these shows, and sometimes blown away,” Carson said. “You don’t always realize how much talent is here in Richmond.”
RVA Fashion Week concluded on Sunday with the Fall Finale Show at the John Marshall Ballrooms. Nine designers presented their collections to a crowd of fashion enthusiasts.
Among the designers were recent VCUarts graduates Jessica Meiko Foreman and Ray Wondracek. They presented their brands MEIKO and Raw respectively. The former classmates became roommates after graduating and crafted all of their RVA Fashion Week creations in their living room, which they turned into a fashion studio, according to Foreman.
Foreman’s designs were inspired by technology, especially from films such as “The Matrix,” and Japanese culture and streetwear. Her RVA Fashion Week collection is an extension of her senior presentation for VCUarts, titled “Into the Matrix,” according to Foreman.
“The collection explores the fusion of fashion and technology,” Foreman said. “It also pushes gender norms. I put a lot of more feminine looks on the male models and vice versa.”
Ray Wondracek’s collection features avant-garde clothing with unconventional materials such as wire and 3D aspects. All pieces are handmade by Wondracek and one-of-a-kind. Wondracek found inspiration from previous life experiences and fashion courses taken while abroad in London and Italy, according to Wondracek.
“I definitely want to evoke emotion with my pieces just because a lot of emotion and thought went into creating every single piece,” Wondracek said.
Wondracek was inspired to apply for RVA Fashion Week after seeing previous classmates participate, according to Wondracek.
“They had a designer call and we figured while we’re in Richmond, we might as well have something pushing us and motivating us to make more things and create new things to show people and hopefully inspire them,” Wondracek said.
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