Sojourner’s Truth Staff
In early September talent agent founder and CEO Monique Ward-Redmond and designer Autumn Gineen loaded up models and new designs and headed off to the Big Apple to join an influx of people who gather twice a year for the New York Fashion Week.
The events cover the city from Times Square to the World Trad Center to Brooklyn. Gineen, who created 10 new designs for this fall’s show, and Ward-Redmond, who has brought along her models to the events for the last half-dozen years, had set their sights on the Rise New York Fashion Week, the show at Studio Arte in midtown Manhattan, operated by a Black-owned company.
The Rise New York Fashion Week brings in independent fashion designers who showcase their collections to a global audience of press, stylists, retailers and industry influencers.
Gineen is the sole creative and founder of House of Ginnie where she designs fashions integrating used clothing while repurposing them with fresh new fabrics. Her creations range from formal wear, to street wear and has been featured on many fashion runways around the country.
This was her first foray into the apex of American fashion.
Although Ward-Redmond has attended the Rise event for several years with models from her agency – Quality Management * International Talent Agency, Ltd. – this was the first time she had recruited a designer to attend. She has long appreciated Rise because its “very upscale with designers who are high-end,” she said.
Only about 20 designers were selected to display their work at Rise from hundreds of applicants, noted Ward-Redmond.
When Gineen found out she had been selected, she only had about two months to prepare her 10 designs. On September 9, the date she unveiled her creations on the runway, she was amongst a diverse group of designers from all over North America, Africa and Asia.
Gineen will continue to pursue such opportunities in the future – more designs, more runway shows, more retail displays.
Ward-Redmond’s goal is to continue participating in such ventures and “to expand the horizons for models and designers of color.”
