Fashion Photos: What is the Philadelphia Fashion Incubator, and Meet the Class of 2015

 Ed J. Goldberg, Senior Vice President External Affairs, Macy’s

 Michelle Shannon, Vice President, Marketing and Communications, Center City District. Michelle and the City of Philadelphia were instrumental in creating the Philadelphia
Fashion Incubator, which launched in March of 2012. It is an economic development initiative devoted to supporting and promoting emerging local fashion designers seeking to launch and further grow their companies in the Philadelphia region.

Elka Battle-Murillo, Deputy City Representative

 Elissa Bloom, Executive Director, Philadelphia Fashion Incubator at Macy’s Center City   

Elissa Bloom thanks the outgoing class of 2014

The six designers (representing five fashion
lines) selected to be a part of the 2015 class will work in a 600+
square foot production room, office and showroom/conference room. 
The designers-in residence will utilize the space to produce their
sample collections, gain valuable retail insight and showcase their
collections to merchants from local and national retailers throughout
the year, as a part of this unique program that
is not only a creative opportunity, but also a business development
platform.

 It was hard to let the class of 2014 go, and it was rumored that they officials were going to extend their class an additional year. That was not meant to be. One of the stand outs from the class was Jovan O’Conner whose dresses have graced national red carpets, as well as appeared at the NYFW Red Dress Fashion Show and was worn by RHOA Cynthia Bailey.

 Conrad Booker ascends the stage at Macy’s with one of his creations, all the way down to the shoes.

 Big Rube checking out the latest fashions.

 Papa Owusu & Victor Richardson of Mesdames et Messieurs (MetM) with a pair of shoes from their collection.

 Amanda Stearns of Mandy Marie. She designs and produces clothing that combines the elegance and luxury
of handmade knitwear with the accessibility of ready to wear attire. Her
inspiration comes from the love of nature. A

Conrad Booker is a contemporary women’s handbag and accessory line, whose
core design principle is the elevation and transformation of
unconventional materials into wearable works of art. The collection is
sculpted using strong architectural forms, bold colors, while seamlessly
molding luxurious materials like leather and fur with unconventional
ones like door hinges and bike chains, into pieces that are both
forward- thinking and timeless.

The fresh crop of talent includes the first guys to participate as designers-in-residence, from left, Papa Owusu, Victor Richardson, Ivy Aristy, Ashli Reese, Conrad Booker and Amanda Stearns. This program as well as others were enacted to foster and instill a sense of community fashion as well as loyalty to Philadelphia.