NFW + Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum Announce Suiting the South Design Competition

NASHVILLE FASHION WEEK + COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME AND MUSEUM ANNOUNCE SUITING THE SOUND DESIGN COMPETITION

Nashville Fashion Week is designed to showcase the local fashion community by providing a platform to engage, learn and connect. Nashville Fashion Week has been pushing boundaries and exploring options since we launched in 2011, but NFW IMAGINE 2021 has given us the freedom to try new things as we explore the future of Nashville fashion during a pandemic. This design competition is just one of many collaborations we have planned for October 12 - 16.

Nashville Fashion Week is excited to partner with our friends at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum to give Middle Tennessee designers an opportunity to submit their personal interpretation of country music stage wear inspired by the museum's current Suiting The Sound: The Rodeo Tailor Who Made Country Stars Shine Brighter exhibit. 

Drawing from the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s exhibit galleries and extensive collection of stage costumes and archival materials, Suiting the Sound: The Rodeo Tailors Who Made Country Stars Shine Brighter—an exhibition curated exclusively for online audiences and free to access HERE —examines the dazzling artistry of Western-wear designers whose couture fashions helped to create an indelible image for country music. 

Applications must be received by Sunday, September 12. Up to ten finalists will be selected based on the quality, creativity, and orginality of a single design submission - sketch or finished piece - inspired by the museum's Suiting the Sound exhibit. Finalist's submissions will be included in a competition that invites the public to vote for their favorite design. The designers with the most votes will have the opportunity to showcase their finished design at a special NFW + Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum event on Tuesday, October 12 as part of Nashville Fashion Week 2021. Don't miss out on this unique opportunity to enter the competition or vote on your favorite designs!

---

APPLY NOW! WE ARE NOW ACCEPTING VOLUNTEER
& OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPHER APPLICATIONS

Click the images below for detailed information

NFW to Present 15 Middle Tennessee Designers Through New CFDA Connects Program

NASHVILLE FASHION WEEK 2021 TO PRESENT FIFTEEN MIDDLE TENNESSEE DESIGNERS THROUGH NEW CFDA CONNECTS PROGRAM

Over the last eighteen months, we've been reminded about what truly matters and have been heartened by moments in everyday acts of humanity and resilience. Unfortunately, COVID-19 still has ongoing effects in our community and beyond, so we have yet again reimagined how to best serve our fashion community during these challenging times.

NOW IS THE TIME TO IMAGINE. WILL YOU JOIN US?

Since our inception in 2011, Nashville Fashion Week has been hosted in the spring, but this fall an updated version will take place October 12 -16. Our fall lineup is designed to safely explore, test and shape the future of Nashville fashion in a meaningful way through strategic partnerships and collaborations with both local and global industry leaders. We look forward to connecting with our community again for a diverse schedule of digital and live programming that is designed to showcase and inspire our fashion community. 

Nashville Fashion Week is thrilled to share more details about our new membership with the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA). Nashville Fashion Week was selected as one of twelve regional organizations nationwide that were invited to join and benefit from the new CFDA Connects initiative. CFDA Connects is a programming network in support of regional fashion weeks and organizations through promotion, business support, resources and member privileges. The CFDA infrastructure centers around programming, education and webinars and will work closely with NFW to help develop and provide opportunities to designers from Middle Tennessee.The Connects membership access exists to influentially amplify our NFW mission, expand our reach, increase awareness, and strengthen our city's connection to the pulse of business, commerce, media and trade in the American fashion industry and globally.

"CFDA Connects was created to skill share and connect domestic markets and global fashion industries through CFDA resources including professional and business development and education, trade events, supply chain and local manufacturing, social impact and sustainability" said Steven Kolb, CEO of the CFDA. “ As a part of CFDA Connects, Nashville Fashion Week designers will tap into the worldwide reach of RUNWAY360 to connect directly with tens of thousands of journalists, retailers, influencers and consumers through this game changing platform."

Designers who previously applied and were selected to present their collections at NFW 2020 were invited to participate in NFW 2021. Fifteen Middle Tennessee designers now have the opportunity to participate in an innovative way as they present their collections and brands to a global audience.

Each designer will present their brands and looks on the CFDA’s Runway360 digital programming platform. This access will include streaming their runway presentations, lookbook and e-commerce capabilities. The runway presentations will be professionally filmed in advance at OZ Arts Nashville by Middle Tennessee State University’s Marketing and Communications team with production design by Bright Events Productions. Nashville Fashion Week would not be able to produce these events and activate programming without these vital partners.

The following designers are participating in NFW 2021. Designer bios can be previewed HERE. 

• Amanda Valentine

• Any Old Iron

• Article X

• Black by Maria Silver

• Eileen Kelly

• Emily Phillips

• Erica Knicely

• H. Lane Design

• Ken Drama

• Laura Citron

• Lily Guilder Design

• Ola Mai

• Rank & Sugar

• The Morgan Factory

• Truly Alvarenga

The full schedule of fall events and detailed ticketing information will be announced over the next few weeks. A limited number of VIP Passes will go on sale next week. All proceeds benefit the Nashville Fashion Forward Fund of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee.

Applications for volunteers, photographers and Shop Nashville vendors are now being accepted under the APPLICATION link at NashvilleFashionWeek.com. 

While we are excited to gather both digitally and in person for NFW 2021, the health and safety of our guests, participants and team remains our top priority. A full COVID-19 vaccination or negative COVID-19 test will be required to attend or participate in any Nashville Fashion Week 2021 event.

NFW strongly encourages vaccination. The last day to receive the second shot of Moderna or Pfizer or a single dose of Johnson & Johnson prior to our October events is September 27th. For anyone that is not fully vaccinated, a negative COVID-19 test result must be obtained within 72 hours of attending any event. NFW requires that anyone unvaccinated must wear a mask at all times. This protocol is based on current CDC standards. Any changes to these procedures will be communicated prior to each event.

COVID-19 vaccines are now widely available to all Tennesseans 12+ in all 95 counties across our state. Find a location close to you at VaccineFinder.org to insure that you’ve done your part to keep NFW 2021 and our community safe for everyone. 

Nashville Fashion Week is a city-wide celebration of Nashville’s thriving fashion and retail community and its vast array of creative talent. Featuring local, regional and national designers and industry professionals in an array of creative events throughout the week encourages both Nashvillians and visitors to explore the city’s diverse fashion and retail spaces throughout theweek with promotions, partnerships and educational workshops. NFW is founded and directed by a collaboration of fashion, retail and media professionals who have combined their passion and resources to create a completely volunteer-led and run event spotlighting Nashville's growing fashion community with a sustainable focus for philanthropic support of the Nashville Fashion Forward Fund of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. For detailed information, please visit NashvilleFashionWeek.com.

Thank You!

We did it! Everything about Nashville Fashion Week 2020 was different, but despite a tornado, a global pandemic, ongoing social injustices and many other obstacles, we were able to offer Fashion Talks, three Learning Labs, showcase and support nineteen local designers and feature Shop Nashville events and promotions over five days through digital programming and social media and you showed up. Over 724 people registered for our virtual Zoom events and we had 6,874 unique Instagram viewers with 132,160 impressions last week. We were also able to donate over 1,000 masks to Masks Now Tennessee and they will be distributed where they are needed the most in our community. Thank you for your support and continuing to grow with us. As fun as it all looked, it was a lot of work to pivot, but we will continue to shift with the times. We hope to see you back on the runway next year. There's nothing like celebrating together in person.

Special thanks to the Middle Tennessee State University Academic Marketing and Communications team for producing all four of our Zoom Learning Lab programs. Click HERE to view them all. Everyone that signed-in to these events were eligible to win All Access Passes to Nashville Fashion Week 2021 valued at $800. Congratulations to our lucky winner Zuwhan Gaston!

We encourage you to continue to shop our designers and support our Shop Nashville partners and sponsors. They need us now more than ever. Also, please consider making a donation to the Nashville Fashion Forward Fund of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. Every dollar will make a difference in our fashion community for years to come. This is #whynfw!

---

Introducing the AMAX + NFW Model Search 2020 Winner

What a week! And, we haven't even wrapped up the NFW Digital Experience yet. We're excited to introduce you to our new AMAX Talent + NFW Model Search 2020 winner and finalists. Also later today, you'll have an opportunity to get to know our final four participating designers Emily Phillips (12 PM CST), Ola Mai (2 PM CST), Lily Guilder (4 PM CST) and Eileen Kelly (6 PM CST). It's also the perfect day to shop our retail partners because you don't want to let any of these Shop Nashville deals pass you by. 

This week has looked nothing like what we had planned for April, but the Digital Experience fulfilled our goals during these unprecedented times. Nashville Fashion Week was designed to engage, impact, encourage, support and celebrate the Nashville fashion community and that we did! This will always be our #whynfw mission.

Visit NashvilleFashionWeek.com to view today's full schedule, including NFW designer bios and detailed Shop Nashville event descriptions. We also encourage you to please consider making a donation to the Nashville Fashion Forward Fund of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee to help support our Nashville fashion community.

Thank you for your continued support and we hope to see you back on the runway in 2021!

THE AMAX + NASHVILLE FASHION WEEK 2020 

Congratulations! Asia Harper is the AMAX + Nashville Fashion Week 2020 Model Search winner. 

The AMAX Talent + NFW Model Search has been a launchpad for many successful modeling careers since its inception in 2012. This year, for the first time in our nine year history, our model search was open to aspiring models of all ages and sizes. Nashville Fashion Week has always strived for diversity on the runway, but we made a conscious decision to set the bar even higher by encouraging our designers to fit a range of shapes and sizes. Our 2020 runway was set to feature the most diverse model roster that Nashville Fashion Week has ever had. We can't wait to share all of these new faces with you next year!

Asia will receive a prize package that includes:

• $1,000 modeling contract and development with AMAX Talent

• A professional photo shoot with a Nashville fashion photographer

• The opportunity to walk the next Nashville Fashion Week runway 

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF OUR 
2020 MODEL SEARCH FINALISTS!

(L to R by rows) Keelie McLawhorne, Elle Lucas, Hallie Bryant, Allison Miller, Asia Harper, Jolie Taty, Makiya Gentry, Alexis Berger, Athena Burnette and Darcy Lamb. Photographed by Gabrielle Sivley with hair & makeup by Emily Gray.

AMAX Talent is a full service agency representing fashion, commercial and lifestyle models as well as actors, hair and make-up artists, and wardrobe stylists. Cherylann Stephens, former director of Next and Wilhelmina in Los Angeles, opened AMAX's parent company, Maximum Artist Creative Services, in 2005 to fill the need for an artists agency in the Nashville market. In 2009, MACS acquired AMAX, a well known Nashville modeling agency founded in 1989. Through a strong emphasis on both local and direct booking, as well as scouting and developing local models for international placement, AMAX has quickly risen to become one of the premier agencies in the Southeast. AMAX models have been featured in campaigns for Calvin Klein, Celine, Jill Stuart, American Eagle, Ralph Lauren, Levi's, Tommy Hilfiger as well as walked the runways of Chanel, Marc Jacobs, Prada, Versace and Louis Vuitton. For more information on the agency, please visit AMAXTalent.com.

NFW DAY FIVE | SATURDAY, AUGUST 8

We have more interactive programming planned for day four of the Nashville Fashion Week Digital Experience. Ritholz Levy Fields LLP will address corporate, commercial and intellectual property law issues faced by emerging and established fashion and apparel businesses in their Fashion Law for Your Fashion Business Zoom program at 12:30 PM CST. Rank & Sugar (2 PM CST), Moore by Paige (4 PM CST), No Worries (6 PM CST) and Any Old Iron (8 PM CST) are the featured designers today. Shop Nashville continues with Ashley Trabue Studio's website launch of her NFW Designer PORTALS Collection at 9 PM CST and other special events and promotions at your favorite stores all across the city. 

Visit NashvilleFashionWeek.com to reserve your FREE tickets and to view the full schedule, including NFW designer bios and detailed Shop Nashville event descriptions. We also encourage you to please consider making a donation to the Nashville Fashion Forward Fund of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee to help support our Nashville fashion community.

NFW DAY FIVE | FRIDAY, AUGUST 8 

The ninth AMAX Talent + Nashville Fashion Week 2020 Model Search winner will be announced to our email list and on all of our NFW social channels at 10 AM CST on Saturday. We can't wait to introduce you to this fresh new face discovered through our first size and age inclusive search!

FEATURED DESIGNERS

Join us on @NashFashWeek Instagram Stories for these NFW designer spotlights on Saturday:

Emily Phillips | 12 PM CST
Ola Mai | 2 PM CST
Lily Guilder | 4 PM CST
Eileen Kelly | 6 PM CST

SHOP NASHVILLE

Shop special events and promotions at these retail partners on Saturday. Click HERE for more details.

ABLE
Bonobos | 10 AM - 7 PM CST
Eric Adler Clothing
Flip | 11 AM - 6 PM CST
H. Audrey | 10 AM - 6 PM CST
Levy’s | 10 AM - 6 PM CST
Margaret Ellis Jewelry