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New models taking center stage at NWA Fashion Week

The 2022 NWA Fashion Week is putting models who are transgender, intersex and nonbinary front and center on this year's runway.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — INTERFORM is setting the stage at NWA Fashion Week with this year’s talent and performances highlighting transgender individuals and organizations in the community.

NWA's Fashion Week will take place March 10-12 at the Momentary in Bentonville, and feature 17 models who are transgender, intersex and nonbinary.  

INTERFORM is a non-profit arts and culture organization working with The Transition Closet and the Transgender Equality Network. In support of Transition Closet's efforts in opening NWA Fashion Week, 10% of proceeds from the opening night will go to The Transition Closet.

“Clothing and fashion are important for the trans community because it allows these individuals to express who they really are, and our closet is a safe place for people to explore this aspect of their lives,” said Amare Roush (they/them), founder of The Transition Closet. “Trans people are integral members of our community, and the opening show in this year’s NWA Fashion Week gives them an opportunity to shine.”

The Transition Closet, operating out of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Fayetteville, offers masculine, feminine and gender-neutral clothing for those in transition. The organization also runs Big Binder Project providing binders for trans people in more than 20 countries. A binder is an undergarment for nonbinary and transgender individuals that compresses their chests for a flatter look.

“NWA Fashion Week is a highly anticipated cultural event in the community,” said Robin Atkinson CEO of INTERFORM. “People are watching, and this puts the transgender community front and center, to be visible, to walk the runway with pride, and to celebrate who they are.”

Local musician Skylar Conover's, she/her, song “Journey Home,” about what it’s like to be transgender, will play while the models walk the runway in the opening fashion show. Conover will also be walking in the runway for NWA Fashion Week.

INTERFORM's THE ANNEX sewing studio, located in Springdale, is doing clothing alterations for the model's runway looks. The studio will also offer sewing classes as part of the MAKE initiative to provide regional designers with the knowledge and tools needed to produce clothing. The opening night of NWA Fashion Week will include collections from INTERFORM’s Marshallese and Congolese sewing classes.

The studio and INTERFORM main office are also being used for the filming of a documentary short which will speak to the importance of clothing in the trans journey. A version of the film's trailer will be shown on the opening day of fashion week with the full piece premiering on the Transgender Day of Visibility in the spring.

INTERFORM is also partnering with the Transgender Equality Network to host a Transgender Day of Visibility event on April 2 at The Jones Center in Springdale. For more information about INTERFORM, upcoming events or ticket sales for NWA Fashion Week, click here.  

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