New York Fashion Week ended a few days ago, saying good-bye to a runway of elegant outfits, some too fancy for a day at the office. But a new event now in progress in Kalamazoo seeks to change that image and to involve the community in the process.
Welcome to the first-ever Kalamazoo Fashion Week. It began Sept. 13th and concludes this Saturday. Most events are free.
While no world-famous designers will be showing their collections, perhaps more satisfying is that a young and emerging one is -- 19-year-old Danielle Willis from Battle Creek. And instead of super models, the catwalk will be flush with close to 50 faces of all ages that you might know from throughout Southwest Michigan.
The woman behind it all is Kalamazoo modeling agency owner Madeline Zackery, who has been in business since 1967. She was inspired by a not too long-ago time in Kalamazoo when there were always fashion shows. And two big department stores on the Kalamazoo Mall until the late 1990s were at the center of them -- Gilmore Brothers Department Store and Jacobson's.
"What I noticed is Kalamazoo has kind of gotten away from the big fashion shows that I was used to when I first started my agency -- years ago when Jacobson’s had fabulous shows (and) Gilmore’s and the Kalamazoo Women’s Symphony Orchestra League," Zackery says.
"So, I said, 'You know, it was too bad that we don’t have those types of shows anymore. Nor do we have those big splashes of fashion in the newspaper.' So that’s one of the reasons I said we have to do this right now."
But Zackery is hardly stuck in the past. She’s re-imagined the concept of a fashion show to be a community-centered event with as its theme, "Celebrating Creativity, Culture and Community." For instance, people can attend short Zumba classes and view work-out attire. There’s even a fashion show featuring consignment garments for those on a budget.
And yes, the week offers high fashion and parties in hip places, but also suggestions for work appropriate outfits. The clothes are from area boutiques and major retailers, and event venues include well-known downtown locations, such as the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, the Radisson Plaza Hotel and the Epic Center. Zackery says she tried to have programming for the older adult, but also young professionals, college students and teens.
As far as her models, they had to audition to be a part, as well as commit to attending rehearsals. Last Thursday's rehearsal, the third, took place in a large, bright room that seats 60, located in a big office building in Portage off of Centre Avenue. It was packed with child models and their parents, and adult and teen models of every gender, race, size and age.
Zackery told me that having diversity on every level was important to her. Take Deb Williams. She's a stylish, statuesque insurance agent from Grand Rapids, with tremendous poise.
“I’m what you call a mature model," says Williams. "I’m 48 and I will be 49 next week. I just started in October. So I’m trying to break into this industry and I’m trying to absorb everything about modeling, and be a reflection of the everyday woman.”
Mohammad Hasher, 15, of Portage, is one of the male models. He hopes to go into modeling and acting as a career.
"I’ve been modeling for about four years," says Hasher, so serious about his future plans that he pulled out his iPad and asked to take a picture of us doing our interview for his records.
"I actually flew to Hollywood a few months ago to sign with an agency," he says. "I have representation there as well as in New York City. I’ve done a few photo shoots for different companies. I’ve done one print ad for Old Navy."
"I'm so excited," Hasher adds, referring to Kalamazoo Fashion Week. "I’ve been telling all my friends. I think it’s going to be great.”
At the rehearsal, observing with a careful eye from a podium was Madeline Zackery’s daughter, MeLisa, an event planner who’s come up from Washington, D.C., to help. MeLisa says she and her mother feel so passionately about Kalamazoo Fashion Week that they’re paying for nearly all of it themselves this time – more than $10,000. They hope to start a nonprofit organization and seek donors for future shows.
Madeline Zackery says she sees her Fashion Week as a gift to the community. It is only fitting then that the last day is "Next Generation Community Day." A fashion show with consignment clothing will be staged, plus a youth workshop will be presented on giving one's old clothes a fresh look.
“We’re (also) inviting all organizations to come and talk about their organizations because we want our youth to know that we have a lot to offer in Kalamazoo - various organizations where they can feel a part of it," she says. "I’ve been telling people 'join an organization, not a gang.'”
Kalamazoo Fashion Week continues tonight (Sept. 16th) with a Fashion 101 workshop at 5:30 p.m., followed by a networking fashion show.
Both events will be at Consumers Credit Union, 125 S. Kalamazoo Mall.
