On the Catwalk

If you’ve attended previous incarnations of the fashion-show collaboration between Debi Belk (lele knits), Laura Woodward (Garden Girl) and Jil Cappuccio, you might have gotten the impression that the fashionistas designed their collections together, complementing one another. Actually, that’s not the case at all, reveals Belk. “Laura doesn’t necessarily know what I’m doing, nor does Jil. The really fun thing is when we get together to plan; Laura will bring all her things that she wants to feature to my place, and Jil will do the same, and I’ll have about fifteen rolling racks and all my things, and we start putting our stories together until two or three in the morning — but even at that time, we’re still like, ‘Look how great this looks!’ And it’s really funny, because people just assume that we’ve worked on this line together, but our garments just work well together.”

And that’s not the only surprise behind tonight’s Fashion Show and Sale, an annual benefit for Dress for Success. “We try to use models in different age categories,” Belk says. “Our eldest is an artist, and she’s seventy years old and completely comfortable with the runway up there. She just pulls off the look really well, and it’s just about getting different looks up there.

“I always describe it as not being the event with a bunch of poor models who haven’t eaten for a week and have that really pissed-off look about them,” she adds. “Everyone is smiling and having a good time.”

Join the fun — and maybe find an outfit that will work well for your body type and lifestyle, straight off the runway — at Cameron Church, 1600 South Pearl Street; admission is $25 for the runway show. The merchandise sale continues through November 14; get more information at www.leleknits.com or www.jilcappuccio.com.
Wed., Nov. 11, 7 p.m.; Thu., Nov. 12, 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; Fri., Nov. 13, 9 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sat., Nov. 14, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., 2009