Celebrity Stylist Derek Warburton & Bottomless Closet team up to present "Real Fashion. Real Women" Runway show for New York Fashion Week

Featuring Looks By: Nicole Miller, Betsey Johnson, Rachel Comey, Lela Rose, Krizia, Kim Hicks, Ivana Helsinki, Leila Shams, Joseph, and more...

Complimentary Cocktails Courtesy of Svedka*

Music by DJ Kiss

Please join us this Fashion Week as we bring together extraordinary designers and brands to benefit Bottomless Closet and the Real Women of New York City.

We have cast 24 REAL New York women from Bottomless Closet to bring REAL fashion to the runway, with the "REAL FASHION, REAL WOMEN" event at the Empire Hotel (right across from the Lincoln Center tents) on February 16th at 8pm. These women, whose sizes range from 4-12, will prove that not only do fashion designers design with glamour in mind, but to show that our industry cares about its real consumer, the women who wear the clothes.

It will be the last official show on the Fashion Week calendar, and we hope that all participating designers will be our guest to celebrate with editors, celebrities, friends, and supporters.

Your ticket price includes access to this extraordinary event, starting off with a cocktail reception, followed by the inspirational runway show and topped off with a fabulous after-party at the Empire Hotel's rooftop lounge. 

ABOUT BOTTOMLESS CLOSET/DEREK WARBURTON'S STORY

Derek Warburton has been involved with Bottomless Closet (http://www.bottomlessclosetnyc.org) for nearly four years and has personally worked with over 450 women. Derek hosts a monthly, two-hour workshop called "HOW TO BE DEREK FABULOUS" that helps prepare homeless women for job interviews.  With your help, we can change a woman's life by providing clothing that is interview- appropriate and can lead to a successful job.

Derek started working with Bottomless Closet because these women and their circumstances are part of his personal real life story. Derek grew up with a displaced mother. They were homeless for 8 months when he was 14 years old. He lived in a tent with no electricity, water or bathroom. He dug their open sewer. But the real story was that his mother had a job the entire time. She was not abused, nor did she do drugs. She was a hard working single parent who got behind on rent. It is a slippery slope to homelessness. Derek wants to do his part in caring for these women who became stigmatized due to their circumstances.

At Bottomless Closet, we help women who are surviving different perils in life whether it is homelessness, abuse or job loss. During the workshop, we spend the first hour on self-esteem building by going around the room discussing all of our challenges. This is a heart wrenching experience. You are never so shocked and moved as being in a room full of women and having one of them admit for the first time that they ran for their lives because their partner was beating them and their children.

Many stories are similar to this, but we also hear about how they have gotten jobs, their children are prospering again, and, with the many questions of "what do I wear?", we move on to the makeover part of our session. The women "shop" with me from the rooms of donated clothing at Bottomless Closet, as my team and I prepare them for interviews with wardrobe.

*THIS EVENT IS 21+