“I really think that its going to be a fantastic week. The mayor’s office is excited about the week and what its going to do for the city. Visit Charlotte is also excited about it because they are going to sponsor the week as well. So its really going to be the opportunity everyone has told me they’ve been waiting for.” – Bridgette West, CEO of STYLE Media and Creator of STYLE Week Charlotte™
Interview/Article by (@LakamarAustin)
Within the last five years the once non-existent Charlotte fashion scene is now exuberant and flourishing more than ever. From weekly fashion mixers, designer showcases at Charlotte Fashion Week to the recent launch of The Plus Academy Charlotte, the Queen City is strutting its stuff and putting its stylish foot forward. As the creme de la creme of Charlotte’s fashion and lifestyle scene begin to rise and new boutique doors are swinging open, one name among the city’s fashion elite has seamlessly began to grab attention …
She is Bridgette West, CEO of STYLE Media, LLC a fashion based lifestyle company which owns STYLE Week Charlotte™, Charlotte’s Day of STYLE and Charlotte STYLE Magazine. This year, West is redefining Charlotte fashion with her stylish acumen, and hosting the city’s first-ever STYLE Week Charlotte™. From Friday April 8 to Saturday April 16, fashion-goers will step out for a week long celebration of “All things stylish” that kicks off with the 25 Most Stylish Event at Mercedes Benz of South Charlotte and a stylish breakfast at Tiffany’s & Co. in South Park. If there’s one thing West has shown she can do, its bring the dernier cri to the Queen City.
Below is a recent interview with West where she talks about her vision behind STYLE Week Charlotte™.
What sparked your passion for fashion?
For me I can’t really say I have a passion for fashion like most fashionistas would have because I don’t really consider myself a fashionista, I just like nice things. I like pretty things, I like girly things and I like stylish things. And that’s why I’m putting together this event. It is about more than fashion – it’s about all things stylish.
Tell me a little bit about the concept behind Style Week Charlotte™, and how the idea came about.
The concept is definitely one to highlight fashion and that’s why we’re doing the fashion show portion. Also, the concept is really to get the city of Charlotte together and kind of show off what the city’s style is all about. So there’s other boutiques who will probably have boutique parties. We’ll have restaurants involved to kind of have events at restaurants and sample the food and the wine there. We want some of the night clubs to throw after parties, we want some interior design companies to have showings and viewings as well as the real estate industry to be involved. So the event is really about Charlotte showing off its style.
What makes Style Week Charlotte™ different from other citywide events like Charlotte Fashion Week?
Because we include so much more than fashion. Fashion weeks are awesome … but style is so much more than fashion and that’s what makes it different. So, you won’t have three days of fashion shows produced by one entity. And I think that’s another thing that’s different about Style Week, its not produced by one person or one company, its many companies, many businesses, many people coming together and showing off how stylish they are. So we’ve got fashion, we’ve got beauty, we’ve got home decor, real estate, we’ve got automobiles, stylish cuisine and anything stylish you can imagine. It’s the whole city putting together something. And that’s what makes it different … I didn’t want it to be Charlotte Style Magazine’s Style Week I wanted it to be Charlotte, North Carolina’s Week of Style, so that’s kind of why we did it that way.
Aside from Style Week Charlotte™, what are some of the other notable fashion events you have previously held in Charlotte?
We’ve done the 25 Most Stylish Event which was held last year, and then we’ve sponsored quite a few fashion events as well. We did one at Mercedes Benz in 2009 with Lotus, we sponsored that one, and that was where we released the cover of our Spring 2009 issue. We did a summer soiree at the Ballantyne Hotel that was men and women’s swimsuit fashion. Then we’ve had some mini-fashion viewings at launch parties. Like, we did one last October for the fall [magazine] launch party, then we launched our men’s issue in March 2009, where we did a little men’s fashion viewing. But this is really going to be like our first major fashion show for the magazine.
What can the city expect in the year’s to come with Style Week Charlotte™? You’re starting off pretty big at Mercedes Benz of South Charlotte, so how are you going to continue to make this event bigger and better?
I think we all just have to continue to outdo ourselves. And honestly, I already thought about that. I said, “Wow, we’re at Mercedes Benz, now what do we do next year?” So how can you get a better venue than Mercedes? And you know, we may even continue to have it at Mercedes but continue to have bigger and better celebrities. That’s one thing we’re doing with the Go Red Show this year. You know we had amazing celebrities last year but we want to step it up this year with some of the celebrities. So the challenge after we have such a great event this year is how do we step it up for next year. But I think we all have it in us.
For more information about Style Week Charlotte™, you can visit their newly launched website or follow them on Twitter.
For sponsorship information, please e-mail sponsor@StyleWeekCharlotte.com.
