Each year, residents in and around the city of Ypsilanti carry on a tradition started by a group of community members enrolled in a city leadership program, a sort...read more
The weather has turned, the trees are budding and the flowers are popping out of the ground; time for a cruise through town. But don’t be so quick to hop in the...read more
About 50 Ypsilanti Township residents gave the Washtenaw County Sheriff Office their input about law enforcement in the community Tuesday evening.
The information...read more
Ypsilanti has many faces, and Erica Hampton wants to share a few of them with you.
Over the past year, Hampton created the The Ypsi Project, a series of portraits...read more
Ypsilanti's newest concert venue is preparing for its grand opening weekend April 23, more than a month after its soft opening March 13.
Formerly Club Divine,...read more
If you left it up to Leslie Austin, local fashion designers won’t have to travel thousands of miles to get their designs showcased on a runway show ever again.
That’s why she’s created Dressed on Washington Street, a two-day community-driven event featuring four shows to be presented under a huge heated tent in downtown Ypsilanti.
Austin, co-owner of What Is That Gallery of Fine Art and Craft, came up with the idea while talking with a friend who is a graduate student at Eastern Michigan University studying apparel, textile and merchandise.
“He was telling me that Eastern has a runway show and it would be cool if we could get the runway show down here,” Austin said. “We thought it would be cool if we get it under a heated tent like in New York.
“After that, we looked at each other and said lets go for it,” she said.
The event, held on May 9 and 10, will feature four shows that will be presented in four categories; emerging designers, community/professional designers, recycled clothing and wearable art.
Austin, who is excited about the entire show, is really looking forward to seeing one show in particular.
“New Zealand does a big show called World of Wearable Art and it’s huge. It’s as big as New York Fashion Week or bigger,” Austin said. “I was mesmerized.
“So when we decided to do the fashion show, I thought it would be really fun to feature wearable art. It takes art off the wall and puts it on; it’s moveable art,” she said.
Austin said she is looking for 30 designers to take the stage and show off their creative and original designs. She has already booked Ypsilanti’s own “Big Bad D.”
“He is going to be showing his creations in the wearable art show and were very excited about that,” she said
Austin urges everyone to apply, even high school designers.
“We’re calling out for the high school designers too because our first show is for emerging designers,” she said. “This could be a way for them to show their work.”
Interns at What Is That Gallery Jenny Eaton and Eva Neil are both seniors at Eastern Michigan University studying apparel, textile and merchandise.
They said they are excited to see something like this happen in Ypsilanti.
“I think it’s a good thing for Ypsilanti and the community because (there are) not a lot of events that bring people together and this is a little more high-end, which I think is a cool change,” Eaton says.
Neil added, “This is also a great networking opportunity for people interested in fashion.”
Other than fashion designers, Austin is also looking for sponsors, hair and make-up designers and also volunteers to work the day of the events.
If you are interested in participating in Dressed on Washington Street, please visit the organization’s Web site to fill out an application. Also look for them on Facebook and Twitter
The application deadline for designers is March 20.