Harlem Fashion Week To Celebrate 'Black Girl Magic'

HARLEM, NY — Harlem Fashion week will return for its eighth season this month to celebrate "Black Girl Magic," and raise money for a Manhattan high school, the event's founders announced this week.

The event, an Uptown-centric alternative to New York Fashion Week, will hold three runway shows and its Honoree Gala this month at East Harlem's Museum of the City of New York on Saturday, Feb. 15.

This season's message is "The Legacy Continues," and Harlem Fashion Week organizers will honor the theme by the donating gala proceeds to fund scholarships at Manhattan's High School of Fashion Industries. Harlem Fashion Week founder Yvonne Jewnell, owner of the fashion design company Yvonne Jewnell New York LLC, is an alum of the school.

Students currently attending the High School of Fashion Industries will present original designs during Harlem Fahsion Week's runway shows. The three shows will begin at 6:30, 8 and 9 p.m. on Saturday night.

"Harlem Fashion Week is pleased to partner with the High School of Fashion Industries. The mission of the High School of Fashion Industries is to provide challenging, creative, and effective occupational, technical and academic training for New York City students," a press release for the event reads.

Eleven black women who have had a "transformational" influence on the fashion industry will also be honored during the gala. These honorees include: State Assemblymember Inez Dickens, WIE founder Dee Poku, journalist Selena Hill, designer Evetta Petty, The National Black Theater's CEO Sade Lythcott, EMERGE CEO Diane Bailey, Experience Harlem founder Angie Hancock, journalist Lydia T. Blanco, Curls founder Mahisha Dellinger, Wilson Marshall PR founder Kimberly Wilson Marshall and Rev. LaKeesha Walrond Ph.D. of the New York Theological Seminary.