​3 days, 50 designers: Your guide to Austin Fashion Week 2021

After a virtual year in 2020, Austin Fashion Week is coming back with in-person shows at The Domain on Friday afternoon.

The weekend will kick off with the first show at 1:30 p.m. on Friday and end with the final show at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, celebrating Austin’s up-and-coming high fashion scene with six runway shows, more than 50 designers, pop-up shops and coinciding Domain store sales.

After a lifelong dream of becoming a fashion designer, this will be Brandy Hughes and Brandy Design Studio’s first time showing at AFW. Hughes returns to Austin as a designer’s apprentice after studying design at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles. Austin is where she got her start in the bridal sphere.

“Austin's such a weird kind of place—It's very creative and there's a lot of artistic people here,” Hughes said. “I think that it's going to get bigger and the one thing that's really good about doing fashion in Austin is you have a little bit more freedom to do the things that you want to do and be as crazy as you want.”

Hughes is showing her most recent collection on Friday’s 1:30 p.m. show, which officially came out two months ago, and features simple silhouettes for the wedding march.

Meanwhile, hailing from Dallas, Phillip White of Phit Clothing is set to appear for the third time at AFW. Inspired to begin an exercise journey but disappointed by the lack of variety in plus-size men’s activewear, White took matters into his own hands.

“Every brand that I was seeing out there, the fit was not correct and a lot of it was just very basic black and gray,” White said. “I saw everybody was sort of making the same thing. I kind of came up with my own brand of how I wanted activewear to be and it's very colorful and still flattering.”

His featured collection is based around his love of the Spice Girls growing up, which inspired him to create women’s and unisex clothes on top of men’s fashion for the first time in his career.

“I want it to look good on all body types,” White said. “My vision of the Spice Girls kind of represents everybody. For me, this collection was the perfect bridge for me to introduce women's, men's and unisex—there are a lot of pieces that I think are gender fluid and anybody could wear them.”

Designers attending come from all over—not just Austin—including Canada, the Philippines and Egypt. Don’t go alone, take this guide with you to get the most out of your ticket. Tickets for individual runways start at $50 and $135 for the whole weekend.

Here's a breakdown of fashion week.

Bchwood

(AFW)

Next up is Bchwood, showing a complete collection of "summer sexiness in sustainable fashion." The brand says all its garments are made in small batches and produced ethically in Ecuador.

AJ Designs

(AFW)

Showcasing asymmetry and the many traits of femininity, AJ Design is an Egpytian-based prêt-à-porter brand with outfits for any occasion.

Brittany Allen

(AFW)

Brittany Allen's clothes are about the motivated woman, mixing soft and powerful shapes in the contemporary sphere. With French seams incorporated for the value of high fashion, Allen describes her brand as a mix between Dolly Parton and Betsey Johnson.

Make it work!