Moda Operandi
At one time, downtown St. Louis was at the epicenter of American fashion and manufacturing. Washington Avenue was home to department stores and some ofthe nation’s largest garment companies: International Shoe Company, Knickerbocker Clothing Company, Fashion Square, Kitty Kay Gloves, Bee Hat and Cap Company… But by the ’80s, many of the companies had left town, and the Garment District was but a distant memory.
Today, there’s an effort to revive the neighborhood’s role in fashion. The newly established Saint Louis Fashion Fund is planning to open a fashion incubator there, providing young designers with a space to live, work, and manufacture their lines. At the same time, it would help enmesh them in downtown’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Already, similar fashion incubators have been established in Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Toronto.
“We are really striving to support St. Louis’ growing fashion industry and hoping to engage with the broader fashion communities, both on a local and a national level,” says Pam Schlichter, one of the 32 members of the fund’s board of directors. “Our mission is to support emerging designers and promote fashion education and outreach here in St. Louis.”
In doing so, the fund is also sponsoring local fashion shows, lectures, and panels. On October 17, the fund is collaborating with William Shearburn Gallery for the opening of an exhibit, “The Pathology of Glamour,” with works by Marilyn Minter, Jessica Craig-Martin, and Mickalene Thomas. On the same day, the fund hosts a gala at Union Station, honoring fashionable St. Louis natives, including model Karlie Kloss and fashion journalist Derek Blasberg. Finally, next spring, the fund is set to sponsor Lift for Life Academy’s annual student fashion show—one more way it’s supporting the future of fashion in St. Louis.
For more information, email Susan Sherman at sdssk@aol.com.
Couture Competition
On October 15, one lucky designer will be awarded $15,000 with the Saint Louis Fashion Fund’s inaugural Emerging Designer Award. U.S.–based fashion designers who are atleast age 21 and have produced at least two commercially avail-able women’s or men’s ready-to-wear collections are eligible to enter.
Their work will be judged by a prestigious panel that includes Council of Fashion Designers of America founder Fern Mallis (who helped organize the first New York Fashion Week event), former CFDA president Stan Herman, Saks Fifth Avenue senior fashion director Colleen Sherin, Hilldun CEO and CFDA board member Gary Wassner, and Refinery29 editor-in-chief Christene Barberich. The award follows in the footsteps of similar efforts to support young designers, including the CFDA Fashion Awards and the Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation Awards.
