COLUMBUS, Ohio — The 14th annual Fashion Week Columbus kicks off Sept. 24 and, for featured designer Xantha Ward, it will mark the third time that her pieces have hit the runways of the big event.
“I love creating accessories, ready-to-wear, and over-the-top pieces like avant-garde [and] couture pieces,” explained Ward. “My aesthetic is a mixture of Asian and African design. In the Asian, I love the wide kimono sleeves and the African comes in with the bright colors and batik fabrics and mudcloth.”
For Fashion Week Columbus 2023, Ward will be presenting two collections. For the High Fashion Tea Runway Show that kicks off this week, Ward is debuting a line of long duster jackets and large hats. For the finale show, she is going to reimagine a fashion staple.
“The finale is from my collection called ‘Ghetto Blues,’” said Ward. “It’s all denim, mixed-media with a little graffiti and paint mixed with it.”
The Ghetto Blues collection is more than just fashion for Ward. It speaks to her passion for creating more eco-friendly clothing through sustainable production practices. The collection features pieces made from used denim that have been recycled, retooled and reimagined into all new designs.
“Because we’re in a world of fast fashion,” said Ward, “I think that we all should try to wear our clothes a little bit longer, buy less, or take what you have and reconstruct it. It will be great if we all can participate in that; it’ll help our environment, it’ll help our oceans, and it’ll help our pockets.”
No matter what your personal style is, Ward emphasizes that the choices you make in your fashion go a long way to helping define your presence to those around you.
“Your clothes speak for you,” she explained. “When you walk into a room, the first thing people are going to see is what you have on. So, I think that we should find what we like and that is what [will] make us unique and not look like clones. I think life is a runway no matter where you go.”
Fashion Week Columbus runs from Sept. 24-30. For information on all of the events, check out their website.