Fashion Week of Rochester Showcases Creativity and a Cause
October 13, 2017
Turns out that “location, location, location” are the three most important things in real estate and philanthropy.
A few weeks ago, as I was driving on Route 590, I saw an enormous tent rising near the side of the highway. It was that see-through bubble tent — the site of this year’s Fashion Week of Rochester, wrapping up Saturday night, Oct. 14, with the grand finale.
Over the last eight years, Fashion Week has set up shop at different venues and neighborhoods in Rochester to celebrate fashion and creativity in our town while bringing people to new locations they might not be familiar with around town, all to benefit those who are served by the Center for Youth.
Each year, these temporary venues are transformed by the leadership of one of its founders and Chief Fashion Officer Meghan Mundy and Center for Youth Executive Director Elaine Spaull, as well as all the creative contributors to the event. It takes a village to bring together all that food, music, lighting, modeling, and of course, the designers and retailers who showcase their work.
For the last three years, Fashion Week has taken place in huge tents, at Parcel 5, on the Inner Loop and this year next to Midtown Athletic Club on Highland Drive.
While the Fashion Week tent is temporary each year, the needs of the Center are, unfortunately, not. The overall mission of the Center is to create safe and healthy communities for young people in Rochester. The Center keeps families together in times of crisis with the Crisis Nursery and provides housing, education and a community for at-risk young people to grow into independent adults.
Location also matters for the transitional housing the Center for Youth provides to those in need, but Spaull says the address is less important than what is happening inside the building. She says each community created by the Center is focused on teaching young people how to live as adults, how to be good neighbors to others, and even how to make a difference in the lives of others.
A good friend of mine once said the greatest gift she ever received was being born in a particular zip code. And it turns out she’s right. Your zip code can determine opportunities for your future, from education to potential salary, even how long you might expect to live. Those young people and families being served by the Center for Youth are getting opportunities to create a new zip code for their future.
This year, Fashion Week opened with a new show, called Leading the Way, to inspire young people with the stories of those who make a difference in our community. Educators, media personalities, civic leaders, and leaders in business, sports and the arts — each one shared their words of wisdom and their love for Rochester.
I had the opportunity to walk in the show and, after some coaching from Mary Therese Friel, former Miss USA, I learned how to walk the runway like a pro, which to my standards simply meant “without tripping.” Walking a straight line is actually much harder than you think; kudos to the young models who know what they are doing.
While walking the runway may be new to me, my words to the young people in the audience are my longtime mantra in life: “Dreams are a story that just hasn’t been written yet, so you get to write it.”
Fashion Week writes a new story every year by highlighting a different location in our community. The theme, however, is always the same: Rochester rocks, and takes care of its own.
For more information, visit www.centerforyouth.net and www.fashionweekofrochester.org.
As first published in the Democrat + Chronicle and on the USA Today Network