On Saturday, April 7, Nashville Fashion Week came to an end at the Music City Marathon Works in Nashville. Six very talented designers showed their collections: Cavortess by Julie Wheat Roxenstone by Denise Roxen, Jacob Holston by Emily Chou & Nelson Nunes , Julia Clancey by Julia Clancey, Rodd & Gunn by John Prikryl and lastly Johnathan Kayne by Johnathan Kayne.
Out of that list of most noted designers, there are two that live right here in Nashville. Denise Roxen of Roxenstone was born in Sweden but moved to New York to begin her design career. When we spoke with Denise, she stated that “New York was filled with designers and it was hard to get noticed, here in Nashville the design community is growing.. and everyone is just so nice here.”
Another local is native Nashvillian, Johnathan Kayne, who was also a former Project Runway season 3 contestant, placing 5th. He returned in the Project Runway All Stars season as well. Kanye also attended O’More College of Design but graduated from FIT in New York. After having business in Oklahoma and New York, Kayne decided to move back to his roots bringing his entire operation back to Music City.
Kayne’s designs have been worn by multiple country music stars, including Lee Brice and his wife, Sara, who wore Johnathan Kayne designed pieces to the ACM awards last week. Kanye is also noted for dressing titleholder Miss USA 2007, Tara Connor.
But on the close of Nashville Fashion Week, Johnathan dressed and introduced us to a very special guest. Esperanza, a 14-year-old girl from Woodbury, Tennessee suffers from a type of brain tumor called Pilocytic Astrocytomahad. She had a wish to be a model and the Make-A-Wish foundation contacted Johnathan Kayne. Kayne wanted to grant Esperanza’s wish in a big way. Instead of just a photo shoot, he had the idea of having Esperanza walk down the runway with him after his collection was shown for the evening.
Leading up to the fashion show, Esperanza was treated like a super model with a day of pampering and an overnight stay at the Opryland Hotel, complete with shopping, hair and makeup for the event. At the end of the show, Johnathan stopped halfway down the runway to allow Esperanza her moment. She was sparkling from head to toe.
As Jonathan writes in all his e-mails–“Keep Sparkling”–we hope Esperanza will always remember her evening on the runway and “Keep Sparkling.” Thanks so much to the Make-A-Wish Middle Tennessee Foundation for allowing us to tell this story and to Johnathan Kayne for having a huge heart to make this wish come true. Thanks to Nashville Fashion Week for not only inspiring us with great fashion but showing us how designers can inspire us to do more for our community.
Photo provided by Wendy Twit Photography
