Toowoomba Fashion Festival: Hundreds pack Armitage Centre for inaugural event
The organisers of Toowoomba’s first fashion festival say the city is undergoing a “cultural shift” after a huge turnout for the inaugural event. See all the photos here:
Lifestyle
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The success of Toowoomba’s first fashion festival is part of a “cultural shift” for the city as a true cultural hub of Queensland.
That’s according to organisers of the event at the Armitage Centre on Saturday, who say the inaugural festival brought in more than $50,000 worth of tourism to the region.
More than two dozen designers and fashion boutiques and 38 models were involved across three runways, showcasing a mix of styles and trends locally and across Australia.
Festival creative director Julz McBain, who organised it with Christel Ryley, said more than 450 tickets were sold across the three shows.
She said the interest showcased a real demand for fashion events in Toowoomba, which she linked to a wider shift across the city regarding food, culture and art.
“There were people from out of town, a lot of connections from Brisbane and Gold Coast, so the response was amazing,” Ms McBain said.
“There were many people wanting to see what happened (with the first event), but a lot of people who put their faith and trust in us.
“This was the event to put (Toowoomba’s) name on the map and show what we can do, so hopefully we can take this and go for bigger brands.
“This is something we set out to do, there’s a cultural shift in Toowoomba and we wanted to jump on that bandwagon and make it a cultural hub.”
Ms McBain said planning had already begun for next year’s festival.
“We’re planning on doing this every year, if not multiple times a year,” she said.
“We had a vision and we realised, you just have to start somewhere so we put our heart and soul into it.”
See pics of the event below:
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