The Blogger's Guide to Birmingham Fashion Week 2013

Birmingham Fashion Week 2013 kicks off Saturday, Feb. 23, and if you’re a fashion blogger you know this is an event you shouldn’t miss.

Unfortunately, however, you did miss the Feb. 15 deadline to apply for a media pass and you simply can’t afford to buy tickets for every BFW event.

But all hope is not lost. You can still feature Birmingham Fashion Week on your blog without breaking the bank.

The Birmingham Fashion Week kick-off party is free so make plans to be at Gus Mayer on Saturday from 6 to 8 p.m. BFW models will be live modeling in display windows while the community rocks out with DJ Coco.

If you only attend one other event it should be the Finale Runway show set for Saturday, March 2.

This event will feature a showing of the 2013 spring collection by Tibi, an internationally renowned brand designed by Amy Smilovic.

"This designer typically only shows on stages like the Mercedes Benz New York Fashion Week so it is an honor for Alabama to be able to host such a label," says Kimberlee Brooks, spokesperson for BFW.

Also, the winners from the Rising Design Star, Emerging Designers and Fresh Face of Fashion competitions will be announced on Saturday too. Thus this event could give you good material for a feature on the future of fashion.

For the Rising Design Star competition middle and high school students were challenged to create a garment using only non-traditional materials such as bubble wrap, trash bags, computer keyboard parts, coffee filters, bottle tops, etc. The top 30 are chosen to compete at BFW. For the Emerging Designers Competition college and post-grad students had to design and create four garments the top 16 will be chosen to showcase their items on stage. The Fresh Face of Fashion competition is a competition for the official BFW models, who are judged throughout the week by industry professionals. The winner receives a grand prize of $3500 worth of cash and prizes and the title of the Fresh Face of Fashion.

"If bloggers can go to more than one night, both Thursday and Friday's runway shows will also be thrilling to watch," Brooks says.

Jeff Garner’s sustainable, organic label Prophetik will headline Thursday’s show. This current collection "The Princess Grace Tribute Collection" was debuted in Monaco and was even on display at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, proving that fashion truly is an art form.

On Friday, Anthony Ryan Auld, who recently won Project Runway All-Star Season 2, will showcase his fashion-forward yet wearable women's clothing line.

Rising Design Stars and Emerging Designers will also showcase their talents both Thursday and Friday night. 

For next year’s Birmingham Fashion Week be sure to apply for your media pass in January. And don’t feel like you can’t apply for one just because you don’t work for a magazine or newspaper.

“We grant many bloggers media passes, even if they are not associated with a mainstream media outlet,” Brooks says. “The most important thing is the kind of base and following the blogger has built. We enjoy working with writers from all backgrounds and reader demographics!”

The organizers of BFW do want to know how many Facebook fans, Twitter followers, and readers you have, so get those media kits ready.

Doing a good job covering this year’s event will also increase your chances of scoring a pass next year.

“Live social media coverage and follow-up posts are key for us,” Brooks says.

For a complete schedule of events and to order tickets visit the Birmingham Fashion Week website.