Inaugural Stitched a fashion fundraiser at Times Union Center – Times Union

When Stitched unfurls at the Times Union Center on Saturday, 130 models will stride and swirl along the runway. They’ll display the work of 10 designers, four student designers and three boutiques. Each designer will showcase 12 to 20 pieces each. A whopping 225 people will be working backstage.

One night, oodles of fashion. Sounds a little, oh, what’s that word? Ambitious? “It is exactly that,” said Thom Williams, director of photography for the event. “Massively ambitious.”

The goal, beyond benefiting the Ronald McDonald House: To ramp up couture in the Capital Region. Or, as articulated by designer Khang Le, the casting director and runway coach for Stitched: “To make upstate New York also become the capital of fashion – instead of just New York City.”

In other words, its organizers are aiming high. A nonprofit that supports sick children and their families deserves the money, they say — and the Capital Region fashion scene deserves the boost.

“Stitched is obviously a fashion term, but it’s also stitching, or mending, children and families in need of the Ronald McDonald House,” said Mike Schinnerer, the event’s executive director, who works as a freelance graphic designer and event planner. “Beyond that, I’m trying to stitch or mend the fashion scene in the Capital Region and upstate New York. Because it’s broken, basically.”

The remedy, more than a year in the making, showcases upstate designers — among them Schenectady native Elona Mitchell and avant-garde streetwear creator Chloe Schnell of Syracuse — alongside a slate of nationally and internationally recognized names that include bridal designer Jacky Tai and children’s fashion designer Ambrosia Jenn. (See box for complete list.) In addition to the fashion itself, the event also promises music, dancers, appearances by members of the Albany Empire football team and the overall glam and glitter of a large-scale spectacle.

The way Schinnerer sees it, other upstate locales — including Syracuse, Utica and Rochester, which “has a huge fashion week” – have made headway in nurturing their home-grown fashion scenes. He consults on other upstate shows, he said, “and I feel like Albany is way behind many of the cities in the nation, even smaller ones.”

Why isn’t the Albany scene bigger? “That’s one of the biggest question marks in my head,” Schinnerer said. It’s so close to Boston, so close to New York City, with designers and models who live upstate but work downstate. “There are people here, really talented makeup artists, hairstylists, they go down and participate in New York Fashion Week. .. Why has it not translated to the Capital Region is a great question, and I think it extends just to the arts being supported — or lack of support.”

Schinnerer also works with Albany Center Gallery on its annual gala and has served as creative director for Capital Masquerade, the annual Halloween benefit for Ronald McDonald House. “And that is all donated time,” he said, noting a lack of investment in the Albany fashion scene. “I think that’s why it’s lacking – because we need somebody that will lead, and we need the community and fashion lovers to come out and support it. And that’s a tough thing to do.”

Stitched will be the largest fashion event in upstate New York, he said. And while he does not expect to fill the TU Center, which has a capacity of 17,500 and costs $16,000 in rent and labor, he’s shooting for 1,000 attendees for a start. In coming years he hopes to pull a bigger audience and “divvy up” the festivities over several days.

“Everything Mike has done so far is a home run, and I don’t expect anything less with this,” said Eric Taylor from Best Fitness, a partner on Stitched. “As soon as he told me his idea, and told me he was going to rent out the Times Union Center, I didn’t ask any more questions. I said, ‘I’m in.’ “

“It was kinda like, ‘All right, let’s do something big, you know?,'” Williams recalled. “Then it turned into just, ‘Let’s go all the way with it and do something huge.’ … It’s kind of a go big or go home mentality.”

From the beginning, Schinnerer’s fashion concept went beyond previous events in the region. Chief among the differences: walking. “With Stitched, one of my things was, ‘We’re gonna train the models.’ I didn’t want them to go up there walking for the first time in front of a large crowd. I wanted them to feel comfortable up there.”

In came Khang, based in Syracuse but experienced in New York City fashion circles and a veteran of numerous fashion weeks. Striding on the runway isn’t the same as ordinary ambling, he said. On an everyday stroll, for instance, you’re not trying to snag the attention of everyone around you in 30 seconds flat – a little over a minute, if you’re lucky.

“So if you’re walking like a regular day, it’s not going to work. … You need to show off your dress, you need to show off your makeup, you need to show off your hairstyle.” It is, he said, “One of the most important things in the show.”

Khang, whose designs will also be on display at Stitched, hopes the event draws a crowd well beyond a core of self-described fashion aficionados. In his view, there’s no reason why the general populace wouldn’t enjoy themselves. “OK, guys,” he said, delivering his pitch, “this is a very interesting event. You should go there. You should see it. … A fashion show is a show of entertainment.”

And his vision of the Capital Region as a capital for fashion? Not unreasonable. “When people talk about New York, they will (talk) equally between New York City and upstate New York,” he predicted. “Because we both have fashion going on.”

abiancolli@timesunion.com • 518-454-5439 • @AmyBiancolli

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