Prior to Nashville Fashion Week’s early events, our little team decided on a couple of things, right up front. It isn’t always easy to be gracious and
Fashion Week is about the designers. Any creative endeavor begins, for the most part, alone. Dreaming, imagining, and making something new takes courage and discipline. As such, we want to cheer for those who are working to create. If Malcolm Gladwell is right, and it takes 10,000 hours to master one’s task, then of course our local talent needs time to develop. If we want a strong fashion community, and that talent to stick around and return, then we must celebrate and encourage work.
Fashion Week is an opportunity to show off—ourselves. In a world where things that didn’t exist ten years ago, are ubiquitous today, why would we want to emulate New York, Paris, or LA? We’re already fabulous, to quote Libby Calloway, why would we want to be anybody else? Celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow attended last night’s runway show in the Arcade. Wonderful. Thank you, Gwyneth. But in return, let's keep being ourselves. One of the things about Nashville that consistently impresses is that we’re steadfast in our value of everyone, and our deifying of no one. That’s why Alison Krauss and Jimmy Paige can eat hot chicken at Bolton’s and Jake Gyllenhaal can hang with Belmont students without an international incident. Keep your heads on straight, Nashville: this week isn’t a chance to gawk, it’s a chance to be us.
Fashion Week is also a chance to take the high road. In a tweet posted today, Christian Siriano clearly defended his choice to come to Nashville. We just know he’s getting some sneers and jibes about spending time in our honky-tonk town. The honky-tonk town which has survived a flood, maintains a global healthcare industry, has one of the leading universities in the world, and sings, literally, for our supper to a large segment of people everywhere whose lives are better because we produce music. You know the list could go on and on… We’re growing and changing while other cities of comparable size aren’t faring nearly as well during these tough economic times. We’re not perfect, but we have a collective buck or two. Christian has already shown he isn’t just an enormous talent; he’s a smart businessman.
Don’t worry, Nashville.
We’re new at this, and we’re going to get better. I, for one, am praying we learn how to start runway shows on time. Honey, I don’t want to do that job, though. So I’m giving a lot of latitude, and keeping my patient face in place.
Let’s make sure, if to some we’re the country girl, in the homemade dress, that we leave this ball with new friends and potential suitors.
Fashion Week. It’s an attitude.