BOZEMAN — Happy Valentine’s Day! The day of love.
And if your true love is clothes, check this out: Bozeman Fashion Week hosted a runway show, gala, and artisan market at the Gallatin County Fairgrounds on Saturday.
“It’s cool to know a lot of cool people and get this many cool people in a room at the same time,” said Bozeman Fashion Week co-founder Brinley Nielson.
“The idea is, like, get off your phone, don’t be looking at fashion week on your phone, just come and see local fashion in person and, like, get connected to your community,” said Bozeman Fashion Week co-founder Josie Parry.
WATCH: Bozeman Fashion Week hosts runway show, market
Nielson and Parry are the founders of Bozeman Fashion Week, which started this past fall.
“I think when people think of fashion here, they think of the very western-like stylized cowboy that you see a lot on Main Street especially during tourist season,” said Parry, “And I think that the actual fashion scene here goes so far beyond that.”
That’s why the two organized Bozeman Fashion Week, which they strategically planned to aligned with New York Fashion Week.
“We were just both really inspired by, like, there’s such a strong creative scene here in Bozeman,” said Parry.
Nielson and Parry say the event is pay what you can to keep it accessible and that they have partnered with Montana for Palestine.
“We’re giving 10% of all of your ticket sales to them; we really support their mission,” said Parry.
Bozeman Fashion Week, which happened throughout this past week, included events ranging from a movie night to a clothing swap and launch party.
“It’s fun to see, like, be able to wear new things and just, like, see how people are styling your old clothes,” said Parry.
The week culminated with Saturday’s Valentine’s Day artisan market, gala, and runway show.
“We’ve put, like, so much planning ahead of time,” said Parry.
“Yesterday we had a model workshop,” said Nielson. “We had a rehearsal this morning, so the runway show is going to be really awesome.”
From jewelry to clothes and more, it was a bustling scene at Gallatin County Fairgrounds.
“I just think markets are really cool because you get to be in a community and find your style and people who resonate with you,” said Nielson.
And there is still more to come for Bozeman Fashion Week going forward.
“We’re already planning fall,” said Parry.
