Columbus is known for its chic restaurants, premier sports and lively entertainment. Some might not know that the city also hosts the country’s third-largest concentration of fashion designers and is home to a flourishing fashion scene.

Fashion Week Columbus (FWC), a flagship program of the Columbus Fashion Council, aims to highlight both established and emerging designers’ works while bringing the community together and supporting local businesses. Hosted at The Joseph Hotel, The 14th Annual High Tea Runway Show featured the works of four designers and treated patrons to a tea lunch to kick off FWC.  

The first featured designer was Xantha Ward, owner of a boutique at Common Thread, a downtown shopping destination.

Ward, a Columbus native, said she was a quiet child who found fashion as a means of self-expression and the pieces in her “Earth, Wind, and Fire” collection spoke for themselves: bold colors representing the elements, detailed patterns, and materials including tulle and feathers materialized her eclectic approach to fashion.

One of Ward’s designs paired a camouflage print top hat and jacket with a billowing green tulle skirt, a combination that not many would think to pair together.

Ward will showcase her next collection, “Ghetto Blues,” during the FWC Finale Runway Show this Saturday.

In addition to Columbus shows, Ward has presented her designs worldwide. Ward recently participated in London Fashion Week and has plans to partake in Paris Fashion Week next year. While she enjoys attending international shows, Ward spoke highly of her hometown’s fashion week.

“I love Columbus Fashion Week because they let me do what I want to do and be free,” Ward said.

Following Ward was Sydney Peters, a self-taught designer based in Columbus.  

Like Ward, Peters has participated in FWC before—not only as a featured designer for the Passport 2 Fashion Show last year, but also as a bartender for the High Tea Runway Show in 2021. Peters said she strived to exhibit her growth as a designer in her High Tea Runway Show collection, titled Le Jardin, this year.

“This collection will definitely showcase my progress as a designer because it is completely different from anything I’ve ever done before,” Peters said. “I’ve pushed my own limits with testing new shapes, new dyeing methods, new fabrics, the whole gamut.”

Peters said she aimed for the audience to feel “whisked away” to a whimsical garden through her collection, which she found inspiration for from childhood memories of planting fairy gardens with her mother.

The soft pastels, tulle and ribbons prominent in her designs were certainly reminiscent of whimsical garden fairies. Peters’ developing versatility was evinced through various silhouettes and styles, which range from a tailored gingham jumpsuit to a stunning corset gown.

Peters’ mood after the show reflected the dreamy world she aspired to create through her designs.

“I feel relieved,” Peters said. “I created the image and the feeling that I really was hoping to and I was so happy I cried at the end.”

Peters’ next show, “Sole Celebration Finale!,” which will take place on Oct. 26 at the Columbus Museum of Art, will benefit the nonprofit In Christy’s Shoes, which aids central Ohio women facing struggles including cancer, homelessness, and addiction.

Rachna Chandra, fashion designer for Indian bridal boutique Taj Cottage, was another one of the featured designers of the event. For her showcased collection, Chandra said that she was inspired by grand occasions, in particular the Met Gala.

“These [pieces] are designed for people who want to walk [a] red carpet, or a special party or an occasion,” Chandra said.

Chandra’s designs were appropriate for such formal events and included highly detailed dresses, two-piece sets and menswear; multiple included glamorous silver and gold details.

Chandra’s Indian-fusion touch was evident not only in her clothing designs, which meshed traditional pieces such as saris with various cuts, colors, and fabrics but also in the models’ makeup.

Some of the models sported striking beaded eyebrows, which Chandra explained is a nod to the traditional bindi.

“Usually, in Indian culture, the Hindu culture, we put a red dot on our forehead in between the brows, and that has its own significance,” Chandra said. “But, instead of that, I thought of putting the balls on their…eyebrows, so it enhances [their faces] a little bit.”

Although Chandra, a Michigan resident, said she is done showcasing her work in Columbus this year, she hopes to present at FWC again next year.

Peruvian designer Juan José Sanez-Ferreyos was the last designer to present at the event. This marks his sixth year participating in FWC, which he said is always a wonderful event to be a part of.

Ferreyos’s pieces, inspired by his parents’ elegant parties in Lima, Peru, exuded glamor through rich jewel tones, metallics, ornate designs, and daring silhouettes. Though all the designs were high fashion, some were more practical and conservative than others, reflecting what Ferreyo explained as the COVID-19 pandemic’s influence on fashion.  

“People like something more ready-to-wear,” Ferreyo said. “Now in my collection, I mix the simple with the elegant.”

Ferreyo owns two boutiques in Lima, Peru, and his couture brand FerreyosLife in the United States. Ferreyo will also be showcasing both his men’s and women’s designs during the FWC Finale Runway Show this Saturday.

While the High Tea Runway Show has been a tradition throughout the history of FWC, one new aspect of this year’s event was its executive director, Keira Chatman, who is also executive director of Columbus Fashion Council, who recently took over the role from FWC founder Thomas McClure. Chatman said she is excited to take on this role, given Columbus’s burgeoning fashion scene.

“I love it because I’m from Columbus, born and raised,” Chatman said. “I went to school for fashion merchandising and at the time when I first lived here and graduated from college, there weren’t many opportunities in fashion so I’m happy to be a part of the city I grew up in, building the community in fashion. I’m proud of how far we’ve come.”

Chatman said that FWC has grown a great deal over the past 14 years, largely thanks to support from the community.

“Because so many people want to be a part of what we [are] doing, it’s easier for us to spread the message about what we [are] doing because people are starting to catch on, they’re starting to see how influential we can be with our designers, with our models, photographers,” Chatman said.

The relationship between the Columbus fashion community and the city as a whole was emphasized throughout the show with help from local businesses who enhanced patrons’ experiences.

The Guild House provided tea sandwiches, Posh Teatime Co. supplied tea and Sistars Treats and More contributed an array of desserts for guests.

FWC has only just begun and there are many events still to come.

For details on this celebration of fashion and community, visit Fashion Week Columbus’ website.

For Scarlette’s full gallery of photos from this year’s High Tea Runway Show click here.

PHOTOGRAPHY Sandra Fu