Is The Exhibition the New Runway Show?
How Natalia Trevino Amaro x Sustainable Baddie Challenged Fashion Week Norms
In a mix between a gallery exhibit and a fashion show, designer Natalia Trevino Amaro and Sustainable Baddie presented an innovative New York Fashion Week event this past weekend in Brooklyn. The exhibition challenged the traditional high fashion runway show format by opening up the space for attendees to interact with the designs. Exhibitions aren’t unheard of in the fashion world, but they remain a novelty accented by a stuffy hint of “you can’t sit with us.” With a more inclusive and collaborative approach, the NTA x SB event proved that the sustainable fashion movement is not in the business of conformity, but rather that of community.
Natalia intentionally selected 7 designers to showcase their handmade, reworked, and sustainable designs in this year’s exhibition. She prioritized designers who drive their own brands and implement sustainable practices: Spilt Milk, CoolGirl, Meta Vocus, VAED, Noe Dresses, Vendetta, and Blue Bone Jewelry. At the exhibition, each designer dressed two models in original handmade garments. Attendees had the opportunity to admire the looks and talk to designers, models, and each other. The result was an afternoon of mutual learning and communion.
Designers like Veronica Arroyo of VAED found the exhibition style less stressful than a runway show, allowing the audience to admire her looks for longer than just the five seconds it takes to walk down a runway. Other designers, like Sophia Hayes of CoolGirl Clothes Co., felt the absence of the singular energy of a well-organized runway show but appreciated the opportunity to open NYFW to a more diverse audience. Natalia herself found socializing vital to the success of the exhibition and felt it was a perfect vehicle to extend sustainable fashion to a much larger community.
For young creatives, especially in sustainable fashion, evolving in the industry hinges on your ability to build relationships—these days, primarily via social media. While we often see the front row at a runway show conspiratorily whispering to each other as the looks flow down, the exhibition format offers physical space and a conversation piece for these designers to spark some new friendships (and maybe new creative partnerships?). Just as sustainability rejects the norms of capitalism and hierarchy, the exhibition model illustrates that collaboration and community will sustain (pun intended) the future of fashion.
