Break Free is gearing up for its third New York Fashion Week designer showcase happening on Saturday, Feb. 11.
The showcase will be held in the West Chelsea Daylight Studios, located at 450 W. 31st, across the street from Hudson Yards and access to the High Line.
Break Free will kick off at 5 p.m. with Mocktail hour as guests locate their seats. Then, at 6 p.m., VALT, by Ashley Alt, will take the runway and open the showcase.
VALT is a luxury clothing brand made for the socialite. Built on the foundation of positive mental health, VALT’s mission is to dress women in jaw-dropping, sophisticated styles so they can lead a life of elegance and fabulousness. Ashley Alt made her NYFW premiere last season with Break Free and is thrilled to be returning to the runway.
Also returning to the runway this season is Zephyr. Zephyr is led by Kelsey Zephyr, a queer and disabled designer located out of the Pacific Northwest. Over the past year, she has focused full-time on healing from CPTSD, including discovering and understanding her dissociative disorder. Her designs are inspired and deeply rooted in who she is as a system, and in inspiring other systems to live out loud and to share their stories with others.
New to the Break Free runway this season is Daniel Ukuri of Dukiri Apparel. Dukiri is an artist-inspired streetwear brand with a focus on creating unique patterns and graphic prints. Designed to appeal to creatives and those with an appreciation for art, what they offer is expressive and plays with colors to create pieces that are irreplaceable.
NYFW veteran, Alexandra Nyman, from the moniker LadyCat, will close out the showcase with her new collection “Marry Me Betty,” which is a commentary on New York City Mayor Eric Adam’s forced hospitalization of the unhoused and those with disabilities. The runway show is a look into generational trauma and breaking free from the cycle.
All of the proceeds from this showcase going towards the Break Free Foundation, whose purpose is to provide scholarships to assist those seeking treatment for a substance use disorder through attending a rehabilitation center.
For the upcoming Break Free designer showcase, Break Free’s founder and the creative director of LadyCat, Alexandra Nyman said, “We are thrilled to be able to officially announce the designer line-up for our third showcase and will include the same level of diversity and inclusion as the first two showcases.” Nyman strives to use the showcase to show real people wearing fabulous clothing, and to bring awareness to real-life struggles.