Buy PDX: What to Expect at This Year's Portland Fashion Week

Using Instagram to Get a Look Inside Portland Fashion Week

Portland Fashion Week (Oct 1-4) is starting the city's fall fashion deluge with four days of shows, parties and fashion lounges at the base of Northwest's Montgomery Park building. Any designer can apply to show, but the event traditionally focuses on bridal, children's and wearable men- and womenswear designs. The best hints of what's to come are on the Fashion Week Instagram, where health goth and street wear looks are popping up their familiar heads.


Health Goth 

Skipping punk stereotypes like 70's era leather jackets that the Ramones would wear and hip-hop that's just Run DMC trends, Portland Fashion Week looks like it's trying to stay more current with sub-cultural internet trends like Health Goth, or it's slacker lo-fi brother Norm-core. These styles got a lot of Portland bloggers going over the past year and Fashion Week seems eager to sum it all up at their showcase.


 

Sustainable Fashion

Putting Portland's sustainability addiction front-and-center, Fashion Week highlighted local wood-based jewelry designer Sticks and Stones for working with Gray design magazine this week. 



Long Draping Fabrics 

Fashions shows are known for unwearable clothes. But even megastores like American Apparel and Forever 21, which were once known for putting skin-tight dresses on pre-teens are eschewing the bandage dress in favor of 90s-influences grunge shillouettes and below-the-knee rock frocks. High end designers like Portland Garment Factory and Alexa Stark proove it's not just a mainstream trend.


 

Streetwear

Portland menswear designer Jaefields made a big splash last year with his Zanerobe-style streetwear designs. Once dominated by designers from L.A. and NYC, that streetwear focus is making a bigger mark on Portland's retail face now, thanks to shops like Compound Gallery and Machus and designers like Tabor Made. Look no further than Nike and Adidas for a hint at why casual could mean big dollar signs at Portland Fashion Week.

WWeek 2015

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