By Tanya Gamble

Buffalo Fashion Runway is dedicated to promoting local designers, artists and creatives in the Buffalo area and will be hosting its second annual Black Carpet fashion show on Saturday. Members say plans are big for this year.

Black Carpet II fashion show is set for Saturday (Feb. 15) at 5 p.m. at the Connecticut Street Armory at 184 Connecticut Street in Buffalo. Standing room tickets are still available. Organizers said the event is the first to be held at the Armory in eight years.

The event is named after a play on words that combines red carpet with Black history month, according to Eman Wajed, co-founder of Buffalo Fashion Runway.

“We wanted to play on the Met Gala and other red-carpet events and call it Black Carpet because it’s in February,” said Wajed. “Those shows don’t really highlight Black history, or the impact that Black culture has had on the fashion industry and culture as a whole, but we wanted to do that with this show.”

Wajed said the event features local Black and Latino fashion designers.

“There are actually eight out of 10 Black designers and the other two are Latino,” said Wajed.

The first Black Carpet show took place last year at the Northland Workforce Training Center, selling out.

Wajed said that Black Carpet show primarily included local Black community leaders as models.

“In our previous Black Carpet show we highlighted Black icons in the Buffalo area. Black community leaders, legislators, lawyers and community activists. We called them the ‘Buffalo Black Icons’ because we look up to them and wanted to highlight them,” he said.

Wajed says he’s most proud of seeing the growth in the production quality and in attendance at the show.

“The first show had about 300 seats sold out and this show has 400 – 500 seats, and it’s sold out,” he said. “So the growth in terms of how we elevated our production as well as how we elevated our campaigns to get more people in the building was beautiful.”

GALLERY FROM 2024 BLACK CARPET I

(Images courtesy of Buffalo Fashion Runway)

Wajed said he expects this show to elevate Buffalo in the fashion world so it can be compared to the more mainstream fashion capitals of the world.

“I think this show is for the greater Buffalo,” Wajed said.  “I expect Buffalo to be a city that can relate and compare to New York City or Paris.”

Remaining tickets are available HERE.

Tanya Gamble is an arts writer from Cheektowaga. She received her journalism degree from Buffalo State University in 2023.