St. Charles Fashion Week has a “Passion for Fashion”

On Aug. 22, the 4th annual St. Charles Fashion Week took place at the Ameristar Conference Center. The shopping extravaganza and elegant runway show will go on every night up to Saturday Aug. 25,  starting at 6 p.m and ending around 9 p.m.. Each night features a different set of designers and clothing lines, as well as supporting a different charity. Wednesday’s theme was “Passion for Fashion” and supported Community Living.

“They were all very good,” Fashion Show attendee Marissa Boylen said, “Fashion Starved had a lot of unique clothes.”

The night began with a red carpet walk for all of the guests to get their picture taken by a professional photographer. Once inside the center, guests were free to walk around, shop at the different booths and boutiques, and enjoy complimentary h’orderves. All the while, live musical entertainment is provided.

“The whole event was really organized and the crowd was great.” Model Ashley Hanson said.

Around 8 p.m. the shoppers and designers started shuffling in the runway room. Designers hustled back to dress their models, and the press set up near the stage. Once everyone was settled, a pre-show was put on by Honey’s Child Boutique. Then, emcee Angie Mock came on stage and started things off. Mock is a Fox 2 News Reporter and Anchor.

“It was pretty exciting to be apart of the first night,  it also made me nervous,” Joys employee Linsey Roscoe said.

All designers signed up to participate in the show, but picked to close on the first night was Joys by Austin Warren Design. Austin Warren was a former student and graduated in 2010. Joys is a home decor store and boutique located on Historic Main Street. He opened a year and a half ago and has had two expansions since then.

“Tonight took a lot of planning for weeks and weeks,” Warren said, “I liked networking with others and the exposure.”

The program will continue through Aug. 25 and tickets are $25. Anyone is eligible to go and proceeds are donated to the charity of choice for that night. Shopping will be available before and after the show.

“As a whole everything fell into place as it should,” Roscoe said.