Styleweek Northeast to feature micro show Thursday in Providence
PROVIDENCE — StyleWeek Northeast takes to the runway Thursday night from 5:30 to10 p.m. for a micro fashion event that packs in two collections, a recycled-fashion student competition, a silent auction for student art and a special accessories installation.
The show will be on the patio at the Capital Grille, against the Waterplace Basin setting. That’s where the 10th-anniversary event was held last October, limited by the pandemic to 85 guests wearing their StyleWeek face masks.
This time, for the 19th season celebrating fashion, there will be 125 guests in attendance.
There was no question there would be a micro fashion event, said StyleWeek founder and president Rosanna Ortiz. It’s something people need now.
“Fashion always matters, because it’s an expression of who we are,” she said in a recent interview. “It allows you to be expressive, without judgment.”
“And it’s fun,” she added. “It makes you smile, and we need that today.”
Ortiz also noted that it gives the public something stylish to look forward to after most had a dress-down year at home.
StyleWeek starts with accessories
Like any good fashion, the evening begins with accessories.
Jewelry designer Nicole Romano will be collaborating with Providence designer Kent Stetson on a handbag collection. An installation will be unveiled during cocktail hour.
Stetson has been turning his fine art into handbags for almost two decades. Romano’s statement jewelry was “discovered” by “Sex and the City” stylist Patricia Field, and her jewelry was frequently featured on the show.
Designers on the runway
There will be plenty to see on the runway with women’s collections from Rhode Island-based designer Jess Abernethy and Boston’s Lalla Bee. Both have showed previously at StyleWeek.
Ortiz is excited for both collections.
She describes Abernethy’s style as what would happen if Marc Jacobs and Rebecca Minkoff had a baby.
“She always has the juxtaposition of modern with a throwback look,” she said.
Abernethy said she hasn’t created a collection in almost three years, and she’s missed the excitement of the shows.
“I love the choosing of the fabrics again and putting something together that people will hopefully love and wear,” she said.
As for Bee, Ortiz called her “meticulous.”
“She is very ethereal and designs for every woman with every body type,” she said. Bee is body-inclusive, and she includes a runway model who is in her 50s.
In what has become a signature runway event, young designers are again tasked with making an outfit using recycled materials as part of StyleWeek’s SEED — Student Design Challenge. Eleven students from The Lincoln School will each create one garment.
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That portion of the night begins at 5:30 p.m. and will be hosted by Ashley Erling, executive producer of “The Rhode Show,” and Coast 93.3’s morning show host Doug Palmieri. The pieces will be judged by a panel of eight judges. The winning garment will earn the designer a $500 scholarship, donated by The Friendship Foundation.
For the first time, Ortiz has added an art component that not only involves students but will raise money for the Healing Arts program at Hasbro Children’s Hospital.
Nine students, in grades five through eight at The Grace School, one of the programs of Meeting Street, are creating self-portraits. Their artwork will be sold through a silent auction.
Along with Stetson and Peach Carr from “Project Runway,” Ortiz did a critique of the self-portraits a few weeks ago. She was impressed.
“They are so expressive with their orientations,” she said.
Some are using photos, while others are painting and adding 3D effects. “They are optimizing everything in their toolbox,” Ortiz said.
One student’s work will win a $500 scholarship, donated by Lindsay Armstrong Mitchell, after judging of the 3-by-3-foot canvases.
The silent auction bidding will take place during a cocktail hour prior to the runway events.
Styleweek tickets are available for $100 at styleweeknortheast.com and Eventbrite. Food will be provided by Capital Grille.
Through the years, StyleWeek has run over several days, with a variety of events, most recently based at the R.I. Convention Center. Ortiz hopes to return to that format.
She doesn’t know how people are going to feel being inside with 300 people. Reassessing how she does StyleWeek has been a process.
“Will we come back with big StyleWeek events like that? Yes we will,” said Ortiz.
