8 MAY 7-13, 2026 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | Flights of Fancy DENVER’S FASHION IS HOT ON AND OFF THE RUNWAY. BY KRISTEN FIORE Somewhere in the sea of athleisure and “Colorado Casual,” a creative undercurrent is streaming into Denver’s fashion scene. “We have seen such an infl ux of new people who have come to Denver over the past twelve to fi fteen years,” says Emily Len- non, president of The ONE Club for Creativ- ity Denver. “They have brought elements of different areas to what they’re creating here, and it’s made Denver’s own look and feel.” That look and feel are fresh, resourceful and unconventional, and you can see those styles on runways that have been popping up over the last several years at shows raising both funds and awareness of the creativity and collaboration of Denver designers. While this city’s homegrown fashion is catching attention as it evolves, there’s always been a scene here. In the early twen- tieth century, Denver department stores championed American designers, held runway shows and commissioned one-of- a-kind designs, while well-to-do residents brought fashion back from France and other countries. The Denver Art Museum’s ongo- ing fashion exhibit, Conversation Pieces, explores this history through a display of elegant gowns. Brandi McMichael, founder of Fashion Denver, describes the Mile High City’s fashion scene of thirty years ago as “quiet,” but says that in the ‘90s and early 2000s, designers were lay- ing the groundwork for the colorful runways of today. “Even in the ‘90s, I remember going to fashion shows where Mona Lucero was having fashion shows,” McMichael says. “She is one of our OG design- ers.” McMichael lists other Denver OGs in the fashion community: slow fashion maker Brooks Luby, Equil- librium founder Deb Henriksen, and Tran Nguyen-Wills, who owned and ran Fabric Lab from 2007 to 2009, and is now running for Denver City Council. The “Do It Yourself” motto is big in Denver’s music and food scene, and that creed isn’t new to the fash- ion scene, either. McMichael, who started making purses out of paper when she was in third grade, went on to become a worldwide handbag designer as an adult in 1999. “The internet was so new,” she says. “There was no such thing as Etsy. There was DSL. I built a website on Microsoft Word and launched it. Be- cause the internet was so new, I ended up going ‘viral,’ as we call it now, and I was selling in boutiques in London, Paris, New York, Chicago, all over the world, just making these little bags.” McMichael spent a few years learning about the fashion industry in L.A., San Francisco and even Paris before returning to Denver and start- ing Fashion Denver, a company that puts on fashion markets and events, helps designers and small businesses start their brands, and “turns dream- ers into doers.” “I believe we all have a fi re in us,” McMichael says. “We all have some- thing that we want to build and create, and my greatest passion is helping people to see that and help them along the way to create the tools that will help them succeed.” Denver Fashion Week “has been crushing it for years,” she notes. DFW was launched in 2013 by 303 Magazine and has become the city’s largest fashion event, biannually featuring the work of national brands and emerging local designers alike. McMichael showcased her “Kingdom Work” line in last spring’s Sustainable fashion show at DFW, and will be emceeing the event’s Adaptive night on Friday, May 8. “I think fashion is alive and thriving in Denver,” McMichael says. “One of the most important things to keep our fashion com- munity really shining is to support each other and lift each other up. Life is too short, and Denver’s too small to be burning bridges. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there and ask for help where you need it.” The city’s clothing upcyclers are doing just that by creating swap events, adding a personal touch to old clothes rather than buying new ones, and teaching others how to do so as well. Clothing upcycler Bucky Grant has been hosting free Stitch ‘n’ Bitch workshops twice a month to help people learn how to mend and upcycle their clothes. The next one is from noon to 3 p.m. on Sunday, May 10, at the Hadley Branch Library. “I’ve been able to help a lot of people learn to sew, and to be able to keep using clothing and bags that they otherwise would have discarded for damage,” Grant says. “I was particularly happy to help a disabled com- munity member fi nally put patches on a jacket they’d been wanting to tackle for ages, and to give them supplies to take home to work at their own pace.” The truth is, people are getting sick of fast fashion — cheap cloth- ing made in sweatshops, like Shein, Zara and Brandy Melville. Thrift- ing has become trendy, and the Mile High City has no shortage of thrift, secondhand and vintage stores like Strawberry Mountain, Regal Vin- tage and Goldmine Vintage. While South Broadway has long been the place to go for vintage, thrift and an- tique shopping, East Colfax Avenue is developing its own vintage scene, with more recent additions like Fever Dream Vintage & Modern, Scavenged Goods and Good Bones quickly be- coming popular favorites. And McMichael is all for people wearing the one-of-a-kind thrifted, upcycled and vintage garments that speak to them. “Let your true light shine,” she says. “The trend should be to not be afraid to express who you are inside and wear it outside. I feel like people are afraid to express themselves. They want to hide themselves. But we don’t need to hide ourselves. The world is brighter when we show who we truly are.” “Fashion” might not be a word of- ten associated with the Mile High City, but maybe it should be. Here are three upcoming shows to get you inspired: Paper Fashion Show Thursday, May 7, 6 p.m. cocktail hour; 7:15 p.m. fashion show Auditorium at The Stockyards Event Center, 5004 National Western Drive paperfashionshow.com The largest paper fashion show in the nation is right here in Denver, and this year it turns twenty. “I went to my fi rst paper fashion show in 2012 as a guest and was blown away,” Lennon says. “What I have learned from participating in it is the sheer creativity of paper. Paper is so versatile. It can be folded, sculpted, layered. I have seen people destroy it and bring it back. People use paper mache, they print on it, they paint on it.” Paper challenges designers to get creative in ways they can’t with fabric, and the result is incredible. “When you think ‘Paper Fash- ion Show,’ your mind kind of tells you what it is, but when you actually go to it and see it, you are blown away by the level of creativity and artistic ability that some people have to make these amazing designs,” Lennon promises. “And it just refuels my creative juices every year.” The Paper Fash- CULTURE continued on page 10 KEEP UP ON DENVER ARTS AND CULTURE AT WESTWORD.COM/ARTS Lauren McCoy models “In the Wings” by Bell & Burns Design for a previous Paper Fashion Show. JASON DEWITT Brandi McMichael, founder of Fashion Denver, stands in front of some of the bags she’s made. KRISTEN FIORE
