On the weekend of the second anniversary of the COVID-19 virus, hundreds of models, designers, and fashionistas gathered in Bentonville to honor diversity, visibility, and creativity during the return to Northwest Arkansas Fashion Week.
After two years, Fashion Week took place between March 10 and 12 within The Momentary. It featured clothing made by national and local designers such as Rinat Brodach, Bryce Arroyos, and Gwen Nguyen, among other designers.
This year’s performances were designed to draw attention to underrepresented communities, as per an announcement from Interform, the non-profit Springdale-based arts group that hosted the festival.
In the course of the pandemic, Interform was working on a residency program for designers and different educational programs that cater to Northwest Arkansans, CEO Robin Atkinson stated. The residents produced about 50 percent of NWA Fashion Week’s runway materials. Several of the pieces featured on the opening night were made or modified through the work of Marshallese and Congolese students from Interform’s “The Annex” sewing studio.
“(Fashion Week) is very specifically dedicated to creatives from Arkansas,” Atkinson explained. “We’re funding shows and pouring back into the community, and it feels a lot more collaborative that way.”
Atkinson had a sense of responsibility to bring attention to underrepresented Arkansans after the Arkansas transgender and the community had a tough time in 2024. She explained that she decided to utilize NWA Fashion Week to uplift and honor it. Interform worked with two local groups, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church’s The Transition Closet and the Transgender Equality Network, to find 13 trans models who would participate in the parade on the night of the opening.
“What better way to celebrate them than by putting 13 individuals in bright lights with great music, surrounded by almost 400 people cheering them on,” Atkinson declared. “The response we’ve gotten from those models is overwhelmingly positive.”
The show was the opportunity to showcase trans representation and an outlet for local artists. According to Rosie Rose, an NWA-based designer, the influenza epidemic stifled fashion artists artistically, but Fashion Week allowed them to showcase new ideas. Her collection was shown on the show on March 10
“Forces of Nature,” the title for her series, “Forces of Nature,” refers to how Rose considered the natural world as a way to cleanse itself in the outbreak. Through her art, she wanted to show the beauty of dangerous things like tornadoes and snakes.
“I was just in my head during the pandemic,” Rose stated. “I guess this was just my artistic interpretation of what was happening.”
Rose has also utilized her work to advocate for inclusion, said Simone Cottrell, who modeled for her at Fashion Week. Rose’s gender-neutral and size-inclusive outfits drew Cottrell, and she was thrilled at the chance to model the model, Cottrell said.
Cottrell is a proponent of Southeastern Asian representation in the fashion industry. Her modeling role in NWA Fashion Week is to foster accurate representation of diverse styles and cultures.
“I hate the word underrepresented,” Cottrell declared. “These communities are so under-represented and uninvolved. My body represents Southeast Asian representation, and in addition, I’m curvy.”
Cottrell said that the fashion industry isn’t always very exclusive, so all must be actively involved in making it a more inclusive and diverse industry. The focus of NWA Fashion Week on inclusivity made the week unique for people who aren’t typically able to consider themselves to be in the field of fashion design and modeling.
“It’s about sharing the spotlight,” Atkinson said. Atkinson. “If you’ve got it, share it.”
