Meet Veronica Welch of Style Fashion Week
Style Fashion Week is, arguably, Los Angeles’ most comprehensive and highest-profile series of shows. We spoke to Veronica Welch, president and co-founder of Style Fashion Week.
Q: How have you seen fashion week in LA change over the past several years?
LA Fashion Week has definitely grown, and the fashion scene here has evolved in many ways. Our event, Style Fashion Week, has expanded to become a platform not only for fashion designers, but also for the newest brands, talented musicians, and innovative artists to showcase their work. Additionally, Los Angeles has become a place for many international designers to showcase their collections here in the US. What’s great is that we are able to promote the raw talent of emerging Californian designers and provide a space for designers from around the world.
[quote]Los Angeles has become a place for many international designers to showcase their collections here in the US.[/quote]
Q: What can we expect in the next few years? In the next 10?
There’s been a tremendous amount of growth with Style Fashion Week in the past year already. We’ve moved to the 42,000 sq. ft venue at L.A. LIVE and made a ton of incredible new partnerships. In the next few years, Los Angeles will become a major fashion Mecca, Style Fashion Week will be a household name, and in the next 10 years, Los Angeles will be a hub for national and international fashion commerce.
[quote]In the next few years, Los Angeles will become a major fashion Mecca.[/quote]
Q: Do you expect LA to ever rival a NYC or global market place for Fashion Week?
We are not here to compete. LA will forever have its own fashion and its own market. Are we a global marketplace? Absolutely. But we offer the LA brand of talent and creativity, and that is something you can’t find anywhere else.
[quote]LA offers a brand of talent and creativity that can’t be found anywhere else.[/quote]
Q: What are your greatest challenges each year to continue the momentum / growth?
Our greatest challenge is always to make each season better than the last and gain more support from the industry. Our priority is keeping our event fresh and exciting for our guests and everyone involved. To do so, we have to continuously find new and innovate concepts to bring to fashion week.
[quote]Our priority is keeping our event fresh and exciting for our guests and everyone involved.[/quote]
Q: How is LA Fashion Week unique from other global or U.S. shows?
Luckily in LA we have a lot of creative freedom with fashion week. There are no strict guidelines we have to follow. Our environment plays a big part in setting the tone for fashion week. There’s always a playful, excited energy circulating. That influences how people interact with our event and in the larger picture, how LA as a city engages in fashion and style.
[quote]Luckily in LA we have a lot of creative freedom with fashion week.[/quote]
Q: Do you see the corporate partnerships as a “good thing” for LA / LA Fashion Week’s shows?
We see corporate partnerships as a good thing! Of course we are careful to work with brands that support the same values we do. If a brand is interested in supporting the arts and culture of LA, we want to give them the opportunity to do so.
[quote]We are careful to work with brands that support the same values we do.[/quote]
Q: LA is clearly a very fashionable town; why has LA Fashion Week’s growth seemed so slow?
Well, it takes time to build something of this caliber; it’s a massive undertaking. When I started Style Fashion Week, I knew it was going to take years. A lot of people get discouraged and move on. Style Fashion Week never did, and that persistence has turned us into the leading event in the city.
[quote]When I started Style Fashion Week, I knew it was going to take years.[/quote]
Q: What do you enjoy most about being a producer of LA Fashion Week?
I love being able to make fashion week possible! It’s exciting to be a part of something so powerful and positive, that so many people from around the world want to be involved in. To build something that was once a vision into something incredible, that continues to evolve and draws many talented creative people together … that’s what I love, absolutely.
[quote]It’s exciting to be a part of something so powerful and positive.[/quote]
Q: What is your favorite city, color and accessory?
My favorite city is the city that I am in at any present time. My favorite color is black. And my favorite accessory is Rambo, my precious baby boy. : )
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