By Ameera Steward | The Birmingham Times
When one thinks of Magic City Fashion Week, they should picture the excitement of the New York Fashion Week scene with the art, creativity, and overall magic of Birmingham.
Founded in 2017 to cultivate, connect, showcase, and provide economic opportunity to Birmingham’s creative community through fashion, MCFW emphasizes the development of emerging designers while fostering engagement with community partners to utilize fashion as a vehicle for change.
With this goal in mind each season includes an emerging designer competition fashion show as the main event where emerging designers showcase their collections to a group of judges who then choose a winner who is usually given a prize as well as mentorship to officially present their collection to a wider audience.
This year’s fashion week starts tomorrow [Oct. 17] with the following events:
On Thursday Oct. 17 at the Haute Pink fundraiser for Forge Breast Cancer Survivor Center ten breast cancer survivors will walk the runway sporting designs created by 10 Birmingham designers. Among the designers are MCFW Season One winner Kenya B. and Season Four designer Julie Maeselle. The event will be held at Red Mountain Theatre at 7 p.m., and tickets are $100.
On Friday Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. the Emerging Designers Competition will be held at Events at Haven where five designers will showcase their work. These five designers are Azani Winters, Darryl Peoples, Derrick Kern, Moochie Kearri, and Sara Cox – get to know more about each of these designers below.
On Saturday, Oct. 19 at 12 p.m. the Birmingham fashion community will come together for “The Future is Ours” march promoting visibility and advocacy for artists in Birmingham. They will meet at the Rainbow Bridge serving as a symbol of unity and progress. At 7 pm located at Events at Haven, Alabama Goodwill, hat-designer Marshaun Brown, and Splashed by DKG designer Daniel Grier will present their most recent collections for MCFW’s The Future is Ours showcase.
MCFW ends Sunday Oct. 20 with their Sustainable Shopping Day where participants can shop curated collections at Goodwill Alabama from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
“We’re all about…building community, getting people together to have a good time,” said Daniel Grier, MCFW president and CEO.
Season Five Emerging Designers
Each season of MCFW includes an emerging designer competition fashion show as the main event where emerging designers showcase their collections to a group of judges who then choose a winner who is usually given a prize as well as mentorship to officially present their collection to a wider audience.
This year’s event will be held on Friday Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. in Events at Haven in Birmingham.
Here is a quick glance at each designer and what they will be bringing to the runway:
Sara Cox
Born and raised in Nashville, Tenn., Cox plans to bring romance to the MCFW runway with her debut sustainable bridal collection.
With sustainability at the forefront of her brand B More Than, Cox designs upcycled clothing for all sizes and genders with a knack for unique designs that help reduce the effects of fast fashion on the environment.
The 35-year-old’s love for fashion and design began at the age of seven when her grandmother, Virginia Waters who is now 92 years old, taught her how to sew. And with her new found skills, she started creating clothes for her dolls and then for herself, “things that I didn’t have or couldn’t have or whatever…didn’t exist.”
“It was just a really fulfilling hobby of mine,” Cox continued.
After a decade of designing and manufacturing, she started her brand B More in 2023 as a passion project, repurposing thrifted items into costumes and clothing for herself.
“It was through my experience in the fashion industry that my eyes were opened to the waste issues plaguing [the industry]. Most people do not know that [the fashion industry] is the world’s third largest contributor to environmental waste,” Cox explained.
“This was a driving factor in my mission that I produced through B More Than should be from existing textiles — secondhand clothing and fabrics, vintage and deadstock fabrics, and repurposed notions such as buttons and zippers whenever possible,” she added. “The name itself comes from the idea that anything can be more than it was originally intended to be.”
MCFW has a partnership with The University of Alabama (UA) – Cox’s alma mater – dedicated to mentoring young designers. One of her former professors encouraged her to apply to the Emerging Designers competition after learning about her brand.
Cox’s bridal collection for the competition will incorporate things such as vintage lace tablecloths. “Something that was a curtain can actually be a wedding dress…it can be so much more than we think.”
When searching through vintage stores and estate sales she comes across many wedding dresses and is always pondering on the fact that people buy wedding dresses for so much money to only wear it once, Cox added.
“We’re wasting so much textile when we could be making more use of it,” Cox said. “They’re beautiful…so why not [repurpose them].”
Derrick Kern
Born and raised in Aurora, Col., 20-year-old Kern found his love for fashion design through the realization that his parents couldn’t afford the clothes he wished he had.
In 2022, after graduating from Vista Peak High School [Aurora, Col.] he asked himself, “‘why don’t I just make my clothes. [I] might as well wear what I want to create in this life.”
“I taught myself how to create the designs and then found a manufacturer to help produce the items,” Kern explained.
As a result, in 2023 his streetwear brand ‘Key to Life is Love’ was born.
“My mission is to make everybody happy with my clothing and…eventually make it more accessible and more affordable to kids who can’t afford it,” Kern said. “I come from a place of not always having the best stuff, but now that I’m in a better place I want to create an even better future for the youth, and people who really like my designs.”
That same year, while selling his designs at the Black Arts Festival in Denver, a recurring customer told him that his work needed to be seen and described MCFW. After hearing about it, Kern and his mother rushed home to do more research leading to his participation in this year’s Emerging Designer Competition.
Kern will be presenting a new take on the distressed look of clothing to the MCFW crowd. He added that the focus of his designs will be on “enabling fashion enthusiasts to consider sustainability by retrofitting [add (a component or accessory) to something that did not have it when manufactured] existing items and mixing them with new items that have pops of color and different fabrics.”
“I’m excited…to show people what I have coming and…my unique designs,” he said. “I wouldn’t have expected stuff to change so fast…we went through hard times…but you have to go through hard times to get to the best times. It’s a big…change in life, and I’m just excited for the opportunity.”
Darryl Peoples
To those who have followed MCFW, the name Darryl Peoples may sound familiar. In 2022 he participated in the Emerging Designers Competition, however he did not win.
“I did want to take the opportunity to give it another try,” said the 30-year-old. “My approach is different…what I’m looking forward to this time is just…[to] stand on business. I feel like this is the opportunity for me to show the world.”
Growing up in Bessemer, AL he was always into fashion as a child – specifically shoes. However, what really sparked his design process was the fact that it became an outlet for him in 2018 when he was suffering from mental health issues.
“I was considered to be suicidal at the age of nine when I was admitted into a mental facility,” Peoples explained. “I started seeking help on my own at the age of 23, and now I am a mental health advocate.”
His official fashion career began in 2015 when he worked as a fashion model for Alexander Jean Co. In the midst of his three-year modeling career, Peoples realized that working behind the scenes with different designers piqued his interest even more than modeling.
He learned the basics of sewing from the late Dalvert Casselberry of Bush Hill Tailors in Birmingham and used YouTube to learn new techniques. Through these methods of learning he was able to acquire the skills needed for reading patterns, constructing patterns, and constructing garments.
Once he decided to try his hand at working on the design side, “I realized that was an outlet for me … I feel like fashion is the way that I can express myself through my work because it’s hard for me to actually talk to people.”
In 2018 Peoples started his brand Hera Ru Creations where he designs corporate wear with men and women in mind. From suits to t-shirts, his mission is to inspire those struggling with mental health issues by reminding his customers to “live in the moment” and to showcase “you can be [in] corporate America and still be you.”
For this year’s emerging designer competition Peoples said expect a collection that embodies strength, resilience, and confidence. With the theme of ‘standing on business,’ his collection is dedicated to showcasing a bold, professional aesthetic with timeless black and white pieces.
“Each look is designed to make a statement – clean lines, strong silhouettes, and classic colors that convey authority and purpose,” Peoples said.
“Imagine if you could write the rules and stand firmly on them. This collection is about doing just that…it’s a fusion of sophistication and empowerment, perfect for anyone ready to take charge and make their presence known.”
Jordan Washington
Known as Moochie Kearri, Washington is a 24-year-old designer who specializes in creating eclectic accessories such as jewelry and handbags through her brand Kermochi.
Born and raised in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Washington dates her love for fashion to fifth grade [at Englewood Elementary School in Tuscaloosa] when she would sketch dresses with matching earrings. And after noticing Washington’s love for fashion, her grandmother Mary Johnson taught her to hand sew.
And during her sixth-grade year, her grandmother bought her a sewing machine. “That’s [when] I taught myself how to sew on a sewing machine,” she said.
Although fashion remained in her heart throughout her adolescence, it wasn’t until 2018 when she started her brand Kermochi.
“I just [felt] like if I’m going to be designing the clothes, I want them to be put out in the way that they are in my mind. And I want to be in charge of everything,” Washington said. “So…I was like let me start my own business…something about just receiving money off of your talents or…your ambition has always been a thing to drive me.”
A mix between her nickname, Moochie, and her middle name, Kearri, Kemochi was designed with Washington’s personal style in mind, as well as others like her with “distinguished, eclectic styles.”
Inspired by “God’s artistic eye,” Washington’s designs incorporate aspects of nature such as bugs.
“When I think of myself as a designer and…an artist, I don’t think I really fit into a box…or…what people think a designer should design…or [how a designer should] look,” she said. “My mission is to stand out and actually be that person…[people] see…[and] they’re influenced, they’re inspired.”
In 2022, Washington assisted Daniel Grier, President and CEO of MCFW, for one of his fashion shows because she didn’t feel prepared to have her own. This gave her insight into what happens behind the scenes and how a show is orchestrated.
As a result of her new knowledge, she felt ready to apply to be a designer this year. With the Emerging Designers Competition being her first runway show, Washington plans to bring an element of storytelling, exploring the art of escapism.
Through her designs she will illustrate “a place in my mind … [titled] ‘Blue Sun,’” she said.
Washington explained that she plans to showcase “looks very avant garde … expect something that you’ve never seen before…I want them to get that I’m here to make [my] mark.”
Azani Winters
Born and raised in Birmingham, Azani Winters’ love for fashion and design stemmed from old Hollywood movies such as ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ and ‘Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend.’ She said she and her mother were “definitely obsessed.”
“The classic silhouettes [and] the very feminine silhouettes [sparked her interests],” she said. “I love a good corset…a good dress to show off the feminine figure. Everything about that is just so gorgeous to me.”
In addition to Hollywood movies, Winters said over time she developed her own style and started to do more research and watched fashion shows to figure out how she could actually get into the fashion industry and be successful.
Around the age of 12 her mother gave Winters her old sewing machine and the manual. Winters said she took the machine apart to learn the inner workings and the mechanics, and taught herself how to sew.
She went on to study at the Savannah College of Art and Design, first the Atlanta location and then the Savannah location in Georgia. However, in 2017 she couldn’t finish due to personal reasons and said she had no idea where her journey would take her next.
After years of attempting to make her mark, this year she finally decided to just do what she always wanted to do – start a brand. And with that realization Azani Winters, LLC was born.
Through her brand, Winters specializes in dress making – specifically evening wear.
“I’m very particular…I pay a lot of attention to detail when it comes to the fit of a garment. So when I make…something, it’s going to fit you, it’s going to be for you…for your body type,” said explained. “I take a lot of pride in that.”
And that’s what she plans to bring to the MCFW runway – old Hollywood dresses specifically made for the model strutting it.
“I am the person that has been put in a box,” Winters said. “I put myself in a box…it was very hard for me to even put myself out there.” But with what she is presenting at the Emerging Designers Competition being her debut collection, Winters is excited to finally give birth to creations.
Season Five Emerging Designers, Friday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. in Events at Haven in Birmingham.
