October has always been my favorite month. Aside from being nestled in the heart of fall with festivals and Halloween decor popping up all over, it’s the month of Park Avenue Fashion Week! Park Avenue Fashion Week is the last stop for Central Florida’s event circuit, providing an unparalleled series of annual fashion events including the renowned runway show in Park Avenue’s Central Park’s West Meadow. Modeled after New York Fashion Week’s Bryant Park, Park Avenue Fashion Week (PAFW) is a must-see for Central Florida’s most influential socialites, trend setters, and fashion lovers. This year’s festivities will range from October 11-17th.

Park Avenue Fashion Week’s 2015 runway show will be held on October 17, 2015 with VIP early entry starting at 5PM, general admission entry at 6PM, and the show officially starting at 7PM. For the ninth year in a row, its presenting sponsor is the amazing Harriett Lake, my all-time favorite Central Florida philanthropist. I had the pleasure of working with Mrs. Lake as Miss Pinellas County 2011 for the Harriett’s Favorite Furs fashion show, where I donned a series of pink fur hats and P Diddy-style coats, and she’s as uniquely fashionable, spunky, and generous as she sounds.

In case my excitement isn’t as palpable as I think it is, I literally can’t wait. For being regarded as one of the nation’s fastest growing/developing urban cities, Orlando’s fashion scene would be essentially nonexistent without Park Avenue Fashion Week. What can you expect exactly? Here are some shots of last year’s incredible final runway production!

The show kicked off with a fabulous bridal collection and quickly transitioned to designers all along the Avenue, including my girl Lilly Pulitzer.

During the show’s intermission, an up-and-coming artist managed to paint a complete and amazingly lifelike portrait of Harriett Lake in under ten minutes.

Here are some shots of the Park Avenue Fashion Week 2014 Emerging Designer competition. Stone Estok ended up winning, and rightfully so. His powerful designs literally had the crowd on their feet– with me hysterically screaming “GORGEOUS” in all my friends’ ears.

…and then there was Tuni’s. I didn’t realize Tuni’s had developed the reputation of being PAFW’s resident show stopper, but oh my gosh, both the styling and stage design were visually captivating. Yes, those are trash cans, and yes, the models were throwing smoke bombs in them as they strutted by. Their collection was exciting, innovative, and exceptionally brilliant.

Of course, the show ended up with a whole bunch of thank-you’s and an epic confetti-dropping finale.

For tickets and full schedule of PAFW15 events, click here! If you want to attend but can’t find anyone to drag with you, shoot me an email! I’ll be there, and I’d love to hang out with you!