Models showcase designs by six Brooklyn-based creators during the third annual “A Very Brooklyn Fashion Show” at brooklynONE Productions in Industry City on Oct. 15, part of Fashion Week Brooklyn.
Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
Six Brooklyn-based designers showcased the heart and soul of the borough with their couture at the third annual “A Very Brooklyn Fashion Show,” held at brooklynONE Productions in Industry City on Oct. 15.
The show, part of Fashion Week Brooklyn (FWBK), was hosted in partnership with the Brooklyn Made store and the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce.
Curators of the three-segment event — featuring the innovative styles of Voodo Fé, Ahmrii (who showcased her line at “The People’s Runway” at Brooklyn Borough Hall last month), Sigal De Mayo, Scrap and Delicacies, Graffiti Fashion, and Miscellania Fashions — were Gabrielle Napolitano, director of partnerships and communications for the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce; Rick Davy, founder and director of the BK Style Foundation (BKSF) and creative director and producer of FWBK; and Catherine Schuller, founder of Runway the Real Way.
This year’s runway carried special meaning for the creatives after a five-alarm fire last month destroyed a large Red Hook building that housed artist studios and small businesses.
Napolitano told Brooklyn Paper that a day after the fire, the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce decided all proceeds from the event would go to the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition (BWAC), a Chamber member, to support recovery efforts.
“We felt almost guilty. We were like, ‘Oh my god, we’re doing this fun show, this is kind of weird,’” Napolitano said. “We’re supposed to help our members.”
The fashion show was a community-oriented event and an opportunity to connect with new and up-and-coming designers, Napolitano said.
“For the Chamber of Commerce in Brooklyn and Brooklyn Made, the [fashion show] really means to show what Brooklyn is about. It’s about bringing everybody together, because that’s what we’re made of. It’s a big grouping of communities, all coming together, like a big collage,” Napolitano said.
Fashion designer Adeleke Sijuwade has presented his couture for the past two years at “A Very Brooklyn Fashion Show.” The Bedford-Stuyvesant-based designer — who styled New York City Commissioner of Cultural Affairs Laurie Cumbo, a longtime wearer of Sijuwade’s designs, for the 2025 Met Gala — told the Brooklyn Paper that the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce provides valuable opportunities for independent designers.
“They always try to show their support,” Sijuwade said. “So [the shows] gave me a chance to show my talent.”
His advice for new and emerging designers: be “the real deal,” because Brooklynites don’t hold back their opinions.
“Brooklyn is a powerful, opinionated place, and there’s a lot of history in fashion,” Sijuwade said. “So when you talk about fashion, from hip hop to suit to street wear to high fashion, you name it, Brooklyn is fashion. I mean, if you have the name Brooklyn on a sweatshirt, on a hat, [or] on a bag, it’s already a fashion statement, just that name alone. So you know, you got to do it justice.”
Rick Davy told Brooklyn Paper that the designers who participate in FWBK are selected for their creativity and craftsmanship.
“I like creative designers,” Davy said. “Even if you do a suit and a tie, it should have some kind of a creative element in it. Even though you can make the suit and a tie, [when] you style it for the runway, it could be a little bit different. We want to have that kind of Brooklyn edge.”
Davy said FWBK differs from New York Fashion Week because it provides a platform for emerging designers rather than showcasing established brands.
FWBK not only mentors and features emerging Brooklyn designers but also highlights the talents of aspiring and established designers from around the world, hosting fashion events in Milan, Paris, London and Japan.
“I think that’s one of the biggest things that I think we need to try to do — mentor and teach the young designers, not just from Brooklyn, but around the world. So we do it more globally and show designers emerging from anywhere in the world or any part of the nation. As a mentor, we give them a platform to actually learn about their own craft and how they can get their product to scale, to sell.”
FWBK runs through Oct. 18. Visit the fashionweekbrooklyn.com for more information about the lineup of fashion shows.
