Three emerging Australian designers will debut at Times Square Fashion Week in September as part of a partnership between Australian NFP Mind Your Fashion and the fashion event.
Teddy McRitchie Designs owner Teddy McRitchie, Outer designer Simone Z Leao and Mea Culta founder Cyan Reign have been selected for the activation.
The three designers will be featured on a billboard in Times Square and have the chance to showcase their designs in New York for six months.
Alongside the three designers, Mind Your Fashion is also flying four Australian models of varying ages and backgrounds to New York to walk in Times Square Fashion Week.
Mind Your Fashion founder Jude Kingston (pictured) said the partnership is intended to provide opportunities to local designers and models on a global scale and highlight the mental health challenges faced by those in the fashion industry.
“Our goal is to have a presence at every global fashion week, so we can continue to raise awareness of mental health and educate those in the fashion industry to change behaviours by challenging outdated stigmas,” Kingston said.
“Helping creatives present their collections at the same event as globally renowned fashion designers is an opportunity like no other for many designers.
“However it also offers Australian designers the rare chance to be seen by and network with the biggest heavyweights in the fashion world.”
The Times Square Fashion Week will take place from September 10-12, 2023 during NYFW and coincides with New York Fashion Week which runs from September 7 to 13.
“Diversity and inclusion are fundamental to what we do at Mind Your Fashion, and New York Fashion Week presents us with a great opportunity to showcase designers and models who embody that,” Kingston said.
“It has long been an issue in the fashion industry, alongside other mental health and wellness concerns, and it’s our hope that events like NYFW can help change these antiquated ideas.”