IN PHOTOS | New York Fashion Week: Elected Officials Take the Runway, Remembering 25 Years Since 9/11
NEW YORK — Photos by Rajan Kafle for NepYork. Amid the lights, music and crowds of New York Fashion Week, one runway in Manhattan began Wednesday evening not with the pulsating soundtrack of a typical fashion show, but with a moment of silence.
At the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, elected officials and public servants from across New York stepped out of their usual political roles and onto the runway for the third annual Style Across the Aisle, an event that brings politics, fashion, business and civic life together during New York Fashion Week.
The Sept. 9 program opened with the national anthem and a moment of silence ahead of the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, which killed 2,977 people.
The evening’s theme was what organizers called “common threads” — the idea that people from different parts of public life can find connections beyond political parties, professional titles and other labels.
“Tonight is about two words, common threads,” Selin Song, who leads Google Customer Solutions, told the audience before the runway began.
The concept was central to the event’s design. Government officials, business leaders, designers and community figures who might rarely cross paths were brought together on a runway, with fashion serving as a setting for conversations that extended beyond politics and professional roles.
Skye Ostreicher, the founder of Style Across the Aisle, said the event was intended to encourage people to look beyond the public identities they encounter in daily life.
“We have to get to know each other as people,” Ostreicher told the audience. She noted that an elected official may be known primarily through policy, a constituent through an issue brought to a government office, and a designer through a clothing label — without people necessarily knowing the person behind the role.
According to organizers, 33 government officials were paired with 33 local designers for the evening. The pairs gathered at the top of the Metropolitan Opera House’s grand staircase before making their way through the room in front of guests and members of the press.
This year’s event carried particular significance because it was held two days before the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. Ostreicher recalled how New Yorkers came together after the tragedy and connected that history of solidarity to the event’s broader message of finding common ground.
Several appearances on the runway had direct connections to Sept. 11.
New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin was paired with designer Elie Tahari. Menin’s small business was destroyed in the attacks, an experience that organizers said later influenced her work supporting and protecting small businesses.
Former Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney returned to the runway wearing a custom FDNY jacket. Organizers highlighted her long involvement in legislation supporting Sept. 11 first responders and survivors.
The lineup included Rep. Tom Suozzi, New York City Comptroller Mark Levine, Menin, Rafael Espinal, Gale Brewer, Kamillah Hanks, Linda Lee, Virginia Maloney, Inna Vernikov, Yusef Salaam, Michael Fitzpatrick, Jodi Giglio, Jordan Wright and Maloney.
Other officials introduced during the live runway program included New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams; City Council members Amanda Farías, Crystal Hudson, Shekar Krishnan, Vickie Paladino and Julie Won; Assembly Member Grace Lee; New York State Inspector General Lucy Lang; and other state and city officials.
The officials appeared alongside designers whose work and personal stories were introduced throughout the program, giving independent New York designers a platform before a high-profile audience.
Sponsored by Google, the event also highlighted the role of technology in helping independent designers and small businesses reach wider audiences. The program included a virtual try-on experience featuring work connected to participating designers.
Produced by In The Room Media, Style Across the Aisle is an annual bipartisan fashion event that brings public officials and designers together during New York Fashion Week. Now in its third year, the event seeks to connect people across political, professional and cultural lines while giving local designers a prominent stage.
The evening ended with a reception that brought elected officials, designers and guests together, extending the event’s message of finding common threads beyond politics, professions and titles.
All photos by Rajan Kafle for NepYork.