10 MAY 7-13, 2026 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | ion Show is hosted by the ONE Club for Cre- ativity Denver, which gives individuals in advertising, marketing, fi ne arts and more the space to be creative together without the structures of their day jobs. “The fi rst show was super grunge, there were like forty audience members,” Lennon says. “It was just an event where people could let their hair down and be creative, and slowly over the years, it has built into this amazing show we put on once a year.” This year’s Paper Fashion Show will dis- play about thirty designs created with paper donated by various paper mills to The ONE Club; most of the designers come from the Denver/Boulder metro area, and a few from surrounding states. Denver Designer Lizzy Chitamitre, who designs bridal gowns for her company Nine Lives Bridal, is using iridescent paper to make a paper wedding dress for the show. “I love the crispness of it,” Chitamitre says. “When I drape fabric on the form, it’s so fl uid. What I love about this is that you have these structural shapes that you would never be able to do with fabric.” That’s why the theme of her dress is defying gravity. It will be modeled by a longtime friend who is a professional bal- let dancer, and Chitamitre says she hopes the runway will feel like a ballet when her dress comes out. “I hope that people come to the show and realize anyone can be an artist,” Chitamitre says. “When you’re an artist, it takes a lot of courage to step out there and have a voice. It’s about giving people voices.” And what happens once those designs have their say on the runway? Their creators often keep them, while others are displayed by the paper mills or the ONE Club. Twenty percent of the event’s proceeds will go to Downtown Aurora Visual Arts to support DAVA’s arts education programs. Since the inception of the Paper Fashion Show, the ONE Club has raised more than $66,000 for DAVA. Denver Fashion Week Adaptive Show Friday, May 8, 5:30 p.m. Furniture Row Showroom, 5445 Bannock Street denverfashionweek.com Creatives are fi nding their voices at Den- ver Fashion Week, too. “I hope people can feel joy in their bones after this show,” says Mary Medellin Sims, founder and executive director of Guided By Humanity, which is head- ing into its fourth season of the DFW Adaptive Fashion Show. Guided By Humanity is a nonprofi t organization offer- ing health and wellness pro- gramming for people living with all types of disabilities. Its participation in Denver Fashion Week is a commu- nity engagement initiative that showcases designs made by and for people with dis- abilities, such as absorbent bandannas for drooling, chic outfi ts suited for sitting in a wheelchair, and clothing created for mobility and in- dependence. “The collections range from sustainable fashion to athleisure,” Medellin Sims says. “You’ll see designers who are incorporating more adaptive functionality, and you’ll also see folks who are doing some storytelling through their collections.” This year’s lineup of de- signers includes everyBODY, Mad Drool, Be a Good Person, LaRoy Art, Holly-Kai P. Hurd, Cleft Confi dence, Spoonie Threads, and GBH x Alyth. “Some of the models’ disabilities are seen, and some are unseen, and same for the designers,” Medellin Sims explains. “We asked the de- signers to have a lived expe- rience of disability when we were choosing designers, so everyone is coming with their own story.” This year’s spring Denver Fashion Week runs through May 9 at the Furniture Row Showroom and includes Sustainable, Society, Youth + Mommy and Me, Streetwear & Sneakers, Maximalism, Outer- wear & Athleisure, and Swim- suit & Resort Wear nights in addition to the Adaptive night. “In general, we’re redefi n- ing the runway just by being included,” Medellin Sims says. “Spaces like DFW have the le- verage and the power to shift culture. When our community and adaptive fashion are in- cluded at this high level, it chal- lenges some of those outdated norms around who fashion is for. When you look good, you feel good, and everybody de- serves to feel good.” Condom Couture Fashion Show Saturday, May 16, noon to 2 p.m. Wellpower Dahlia Campus, 3401 Eudora Street empowermentprogram.org/fashion While the Paper Fashion Show and Den- ver Fashion Week are longtime local tradi- tions, the Condom Couture Fashion Show is just getting started. It’s a new venture for the Empowerment Program, a nonprofi t that connects anyone who identifi es as a woman with resources for health, housing, education and employment. “We try to remove barriers so that individuals can live a healthier life and make healthier and safer decisions through trauma-informed, responsive, holistic public health services,” says Elizabeth Fisher, the program’s director of development. “We try to empower them to become functioning members of our society.” All of the Empowerment Program’s ser- vices are free of charge, and the nonprofi t is funded by donations and city, state and federal grants — all of which have recently been a challenge to secure. “So we’re thinking of creative ways to bring in some extra funding,” says Fisher. “We’d heard of condom fashion shows and were like, ‘Why don’t we do one?’” ONE Condoms provided the Empower- ment Program with 5,000 non-lubricated colorful condoms, and Empowerment Pro- gram participants armed with staples, glue guns, needles and thread are creating fashion designs with the rubber. “They’ll also model them,” Fisher says. “Some of the designs will be made directly from the condoms, but others already have a garment as a shell, and they’re adding the condoms onto that. It’s up to them to do whatever they like. They can do a full outfi t or just a hat, handbag, vest, tote bag, etc.” Fisher admits that putting the word “cou- ture” in the show’s title is a little tongue-in- cheek, but it’ll be a fun and funky way to promote safe sex during a family-friendly evening. “In some ways, it’s never too early to learn about the safety of condoms,” she says, adding that the Empowerment Program provides free condoms and HIV testing as part of its programming. There will also be free condoms at the Con- dom Couture Fashion Show. “Hopefully, people realize that condoms aren’t scary; they can be a lot of fun,” Fisher concludes. “So why not pick up some condoms on your way out, and have fun however you want to have fun with them?” Email the author at kristen.fi [email protected]. A runway look at a previous Paper Fashion Show. A designer works on pieces for the Empowerment Program’s Condom Couture Fashion Show. A model shows off an everyBODY design at a previous Adaptive fashion show at Denver Fashion Week. MARL A RUTHERFORD PHOTOGRAPHY Culture continued from page 8 WESTON MOSBURG EMPOWERMENT PROGRAM
