New York has it. Paris has it. Milan has it. Charleston has it: Fashion Week.
Now in its fourth year, Charleston Fashion week is slated for March 16 through 20, when tents filled with models flaunting the latest couture will fill Marion Square.
Despite the economy, CFW is exploding, with a lineup this year that includes “Project Runway” "Fan Favorite," Mychael Knight, C of C grad and “Project Runway” finalist Carol Hannah Whitfield and numerous other established and emerging designers.
Though CFW is approaching the level of internationally renowned fashion weeks, it has something other fashion weeks do not: College of Charleston students.
"Charleston Fashion Week is very much College of Charleston friendly," says senior Travis O'Dell, who has worked as a backstage model coordinator at CFW since 2008.
O'Dell has become a fixture at Fashion Week, helping to keep things running smoothly behind the scenes by ensuring that the models are in the right order and on the catwalk at the correct time. Yet this fashion fanatic's responsibilities begin months before the actual fashion week occurs.
"What I try to do is get to know the models by face, by name, by the way they walk. I try to also look into what shows they're in, so that way during Fashion Week I can assist the people backstage," says O'Dell.
He does this by attending and assisting with all of the fall modeling auditions, as well as observing all of the rehearsals for the shows.
"I take notes on what some of the problems are with models' walks...and what problems I see on a large scale, and on individual models," he says.
Many of the models O'Dell works with are College of Charleston students who work the runway during Charleston Fashion Week as a way to break into the fashion industry or just experience something outside of the norm.
Sophomore Brooke Hohman is preparing for her second year of modeling for CFW and recently signed with a local modeling agency. For Hohman, modeling is an empowering activity outside of the stress of school and work (although school always comes first).
"They pay you to play dress up. You get your hair and makeup done, which is fun," says Hohman. "It can be hard at certain points...you're trying to promote someone's product in the way they want you to."
Hohman shares another little-known challenge about modeling: staying on the runway.
"It's completely dark, except for the flashing lights from the cameras in the photo pit at the end, and you're trying to use your peripherals to find the end of the runway and not fall off," Hohman says.
For students involved, scheduling time for CFW can be as tricky as balancing on the runway in four-inch stilettos.
"The hardest part of Charleston Fashion Week is the time, " says senior Amanda Franklin, now in her third year of modeling for CFW.
"There's all the excitement leading up to it. You're scrambling around, going to fittings, living your real life. It's a lot of time and a big commitment, but I think it's worth it in the end," she says.
Charleston Fashion Week is especially rewarding for C of C students because it is an event that is becoming nationally and internationally recognized.
"I've watched it grow absolutely at an exponential rate," says O'Dell. "Now Charleston has fashion icons. It's worthy of Bryant Park in New York."
For more information on Charleston Fashion Week, visit www.charlestonfashionweek.com. Though applications have closed for volunteering this year, CFW relies heavily on volunteers for its success, from models to ticket sales.