Every year, the Phoenix Fashion Week team sets out on a mission to find the most promising emerging designers to join their three-month camp. The Valley Ho Hotel in Scottsdale is the venue for the show of these talented individuals. Abbei Marquis, the leader of the team, believes that Phoenix is becoming a new fashion hub. His goal is to connect designers and buyers and to showcase some of the fashion that is happening in the Valley.
On Friday, fourteen designers will be competing for the title of “Designer of the Year”. Seven of them are from Phoenix, including Misha Mendicino Designs. Misha creates resort clothing for women, inspired by tribal prints from South Africa, tropical prints from Maui and geoprints from New York. He has only been designing clothes for about a year but he does everything he can to make it work.
Mary Elizabeth Stewart, a graduate of the Parsons School of Design in New York and a resident of Scottsdale, will also be participating in Phoenix Fashion Week. She hopes to inspire people in the Arizona fashion community and to make people feel safe when wearing Rockin Street Wear. Salami moved to Phoenix a year ago and decided to get involved in the fashion community as a designer. He hopes that his brand and collection will convey a cultural appreciation with African prints and, at the same time, show the global appeal of prints in fashion.
The presentation will discuss Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) in detail, provide a first look at how fashion designers and brands can create their own designs, and share how customers can buy and exchange fashion NFTs. Designed with natural and organic materials, the featured works are inspired by indigenous traditions, Afro-Caribbean religious beliefs, and the traumas of colonial oppression. Phoenix Fashion Week is an incredible platform for emerging designers to showcase their talent and gain visibility, establish connections and be part of a close-knit community. It is also an opportunity for up-and-coming fashion designers to show off their products on Friday night and try to get some sales.
With its success, Salami hopes that his collections and those of other designers will give Arizona more recognition as a fashion center.
