Great Lakes Fashion Week’s Couture Show was held Saturday, Nov. 2, at the Cleveland Hilton Garden Inn’s Carnegie ballroom.
The event was hosted by Bianca Golden, who has appeared on Tyra Bank’s CW model competition show “America’s Next Top Model” and is now signed with Ford Model Management.
Before the show started, guests were encouraged to mingle and visits multiple vendors' booths that were set up around the room.
The runway show consisted of six different designers’ collections that included Yummi Lifestyle by Bunni, Dartanya by Dartanya, Ciao Baby! by Wil Curtis, MIUS Collection by Millie Soto-Karkoff, iii Creations by Misti Leigh, and Jahi by Akili Cooper.
There was a wide range of design aesthetic shown in the six collections. Yummi Lifestyle was very fun and youthful, Dartanya possessed a bit of eeriness from the printed fabrics yet still maintained a romantic feel, and Ciao Baby! was very modern. The thread to the fabric in MIUS Collection is all made in America. iii Creations was inspired by the designer’s love and appreciation for vintage. At the age of 20 the designer Akili Cooper has already shown his collection over 20 times.
After the first three designers showed their collections there was a brief intermission, and Bianca took the opportunity to have a runway walk competition with members of the audience to liven up the crowd.
The night would not have been possible without the founders of Great Lakes Fashion Week, Amanda Krieg and LaShonda Reed, Pretty Living PR, Mona Lisa Salon and Spa - who styled the models' hair, and Maureen Richard, Chantera Jenkins, and Hair by Sophi, who all did the models' makeup.
