Syracuse Fashion Week is back with 22 designers and more than 180 models participating. The semi annual event celebrates the style and fashion of central New York.
This year Syracuse Fashion Week features three shows. “Local Love” is focused on local designers and local boutiques. “The Underground Show”, Executive Director Lisa Butler said is edgy and sexy with body painted models and lingerie. She calls it a theatrical experience at the intersection of fashion and costume.
“We’re doing a circus theme this year,” Butler said. “We always try to have some kind of an interesting creative theme. Our theme this year is Cirque de Couture.”
The final show is a gala happening at Mohegan Manor and features formal wear, bridal wear, menswear and custom couture. Butler describes the fashion scene of central New York as eclectic.
“One of the main components that several of the designers are working on this year is upcycling, which is extremely popular right now because we all know that fashion is a great polluter,” Butler said.
Ticket sales for the shows raise money for the Food Bank of Central New York.
“Food and fashion seemed to go hand in hand with our charitable arm of what we try to do,” Butler said. “We talk about the food bank and the work that they do at each show. We do a little runway collection and then we make a donation when it’s all over.”
Syracuse Fashion Week has raised more than $20,000 for the food bank since 2014.
