EMERGE! NYC Fashion Week

EMERGE! Fashion Week 2011 Event Combine Art, Honorees and The Runway is A Tremendous Success

First - Annual Fashion Week Event to Hits NYC Fashion Week Hard With Strong Fresh Designs


New York, NY (February 16th 2011) – D. Williams Public Relations and Beautiful Planning Marketing & PR teamed up on February 15th 2011 to present EMERGE! An NYC Fashion Week Runway Show Event. The first- annual red carpet, step and repeat event took place at the Sun West Studios in New York City and was one of the hottest new platforms for emerging designers for February NYC Fashion week year. The elite by-invite-only attendees included the elite of the fashion industry such as Audrey Smaltz, fashion editors, buyers from major fashion retailers, and well known celebrity names such as Dwight Eubanks The Real Housewives of Atlanta, Suede from Project Runway season 5, and more.
Sponsors for the evening include MEDEA Vodka who brings forth the world's first interactive bottle, Sign Expo, Chocovine, Brian C. Hawkins, Mark Tutson Productions, JMI Graphics, and Dex NY Cosmetics Inc.

“The lines that debuted at EMERGE! were simply breathtaking”, states Dionne Williams CEO of D. Williams Public Relations . “Fashion week can launch many a career to the next level so our event is rightfully named.”

The designers whose pieces were beautifully featured on the runway included:

• Terri Stevens who owns and designs for Michael Joseph and Funkinbeautiful designs. She is a Chicago native and was featured on Season 5 of Project Runway. Terri was one of the top six contestants on the show. Her funky and chic styles that continued to amaze the judges each week.

• Sheila Rashid who is a Fashion Designer who took it upon herself to learn everything about the business on her own.

• Dawn Joi who is the creator and designer of JoiTees. The talented designer has dedicated herself to spreading "joi" and love in a chic, yet eco-friendly way. Her JoiTees (tee shirts) offer versatile fashion with a conscience and a touch of humor.

• Dominique Auxilly who has dressed the likes of Nicki Minaj to Miss Universe Caressa Cameron is an up and coming star designer. This self-taught New Yorker will be partnering up with Isobel Arnbeg vintage and opening up her own boutique in SoHo.

Included in the event was also a special award presentation for two groundbreaking honorees. The first honoree was fashion powerhouse Audrey Smaltz who is the owner of Ground Crew a company that provides indispensible backstage management during international shows and other events. Among her more than 70 regular bookers are Oscar De La Renta, Vera Wang, Donna Karan, and Michael Kors.
The second silent honoree of the evening was the Not For Profit organization ART START, an award-winning, nationally recognized model for using the arts to save lives and transform communities. Art Start connects with kids age 5-21 living in homeless shelters, transient on the streets, coming out of jail, or surviving with parents in crisis. Word about Art Start’s success has also received national media attention. Features about Art Start have been portrayed on: The Oprah Winfrey Show, Bravo’s documentary Stories of Arts for Change, a mini-documentary by two-time Academy Award-winning director Barbara Kopple and the 2003 CBS special, “Fulfilling the Dream.” In 2009, The Sundance Channel debuted The Hip Hop Project, a feature-length documentary about Art Start’s award- winning music program for teens in crisis. The event was styled by Live Fashion under the direction of Rowshana Jackson, a freelance fashion editor and editorial stylist based in NY.

“ This may be a first-annual event but we have launched EMERGE! with a resounding fashion boom,” states Owner of Beautiful Planning Marketing & PR Monique Tatum. “We had a number of up and comers that simply could not be ignored, and an honoree who has made such an impact within the Fashion world, and Fashion Show community. Our message is simple. It is possible to Emerge wi