Silver and Lavender silk set, Sweet Revenge Lingerie. Photo by Polina Osherov.

I’m very pleased to announce the founding of a group called Indianapolis Fashion Collective. The group is brand-spanking new, having just received its name this past week. I’m raising a glass of iced coffee to thank the founding members who have been and will continue to be passionate enough about fashion in Indianapolis to grow this group.

Let me tell you how it began, and where we’re headed.

One of the founding forces in Indianapolis is Midwest Fashion week, and the creative mind behind that happens to be Berny Martin of Catou. Martin has great hopes for Indianapolis’ fashion scene, and has worked hard over the past several years to create a name for MWFW. Each year the show grows in attendance and events. Yes, it has had some growing pains, but all in all MWFW has been a spur that pushed local designers to move further ahead.

This past March, one of the events that Martin assembled was the Fashion Incubator, arranged in coordination with the IndyFringe. Pauline Moffat (Executive Director) and Jill Ditmire (Vice President) acted as host and mediator to a panel of speakers, who addressed topics such as funding for emerging designers, work spaces, how to keep talent in the area, and creation of a fashion district. The event was attended by students, teachers, designers, photographers and journalists.

I felt the event was a great beginning, but my fear was there would be absolutely no follow-up. My fear was unfounded. A core group of people become very interested in pursuing the idea, and Ditmire took on the task of corralling us together to meet again and make serious plans. After a few meetings (and a bit of wine supplied by Mass Ave Wine Shop), we have a solid mission and a list of action items…and progress.

Our Mission:

Unite, Empower, Showcase and Grow the Indianapolis area fashion industry through collaboration, education and awareness.

Goals:

-Web presence
-Destination/Tourism
-Marketing/Events
-Mentoring/Funding
-Manufacturing/sourcing
-Partnerships

Along with making the group official (and addressing the needs of creating a not-for-profit status), the top two goals that we have been tackling are creating a web presence, and finding the ideal area to start a fashion district.

I should mention here that other city groups are working closely with Indianapolis Fashion Collective, and we value their collaboration highly. IFC needs to have a professional, unbiased eye that only a city-sponsored not-for-profit can have. Susan Brasco (head of Motorsports and Fashion for Develop Indy), Pauline Moffat and Jill Ditmire of IndyFringe, Tamara Zahn (President of Indianapolis Downtown, Inc.), Berny Martin (Midwest Fashion Week) and newly Tammi Hughes (Executive Director of East 10th Street Civic Association) will all be connecting with the group in various ways. What continues to surprise me is not just how many people are interested in supporting the fashion industry, but the fact that we have all been working separately to achieve the same goals.

Hence: Unite. IFC doesn’t need to achieve all of its goals on its own, but we wants to support the building of the infrastructure that the industry needs to blossom.

Stay Tuned:

Keep an eye out for news from the Indianapolis Fashion Collective. We’re working on developing a website that will be a hub for the industry in the Indianapolis area. Some features of the website will be a comprehensive directory of industry members (designers, sales reps, photographers, to name a few categories), a forum for local industry discussions, an interactive calendar of fashion related events, and links to resources in the area.

If you are interested to hear more about the website, or wish to contribute services to the IFC, please .