Downtown Community Development Corporation | (412) 235-7263 | info@pdcdc.org
100 Fifth Ave, Suite 614
Pittsburgh, PA 15222

220 5th Ave.
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
412-394-3400

An enticing menu comprised of Vallozzi family traditions such as homemade pastas (including Helen's gnocchi) and the pizza that made them famous, as well as fresh steaks and seafood. The menu also boasts a number of Italian meats and cheeses flown in from Italy weekly and served from their 'Fresh Mozzarella' bar.

 

In this Issue:
Workshops; Coming Soon!

Pittsburgh has a thriving fashion community. Something about the city just breeds designers with creative minds and get-done attitudes. Unfortunately, this community is a little under the radar. It is flourishing and growing, and the Downtown Community Development Corporation wants to help. Many designers have great ideas on paper, but not quite the know-how to get those designs to market. In 2019 the DowntownCDC will be offering courses that teach up and coming designs more about PR, marketing, designing, and business planning. These fashion workshops will serve to facilitate the transition from the drafting table to the market and getting designers' pieces into retailers.

Last September, 2,500 people tuned in to Pittsburgh Fashion Week's runway show on Facebook Live. Clearly, Pittsburgh is on the rise in the fashion world, and DowntownCDC is helping that with these courses. In the future, when more equipment becomes available to us, more classes will be offered in fields like sewing. But as much as these classes are about helping designers gain the skills they need to be more successful in the business aspect of the fashion world, they're also about awareness. It's a shame that Pittsburgh's community is so often overlooked, and DowntownCDC is trying to bring our local fashion scene to light so that Pittsburgh will be able to keep up with other fashionable cities. Pittsburghers know how vibrant our city is, it's time the rest of the world did as well.

Call for Runway Week Models

Runway Week and Style & Glam Magazine are looking for models for runway, social media and magazine opportunities.

Please apply at https://www.itsrunwayweek.com/model-application.

Models must attend one of our three models calls to be considered. First call is Saturday. Please bring your heels and comp cards/portfolio book (if you have one).

Once you are selected, you will be able to participate in all of the runway shows, magazine shoots & YouTube channel.
19th Annual Netflix Lights! Glamour! Action! Gala  

The Pittsburgh Film Office's 19th Annual Netflix Lights! Glamour! Action! Gala will be held on February 23, 2019 at The Pennsylvanian (1100 Liberty Avenue) from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. The event is sponsored by Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield and for the first time in 19 years it will be held on a Saturday night. Guests will have access to decadent selections from local restaurants, while enjoying Oscar predictions, live music, and dancing.

The local restaurants and participants for this year's Gala include: Eddie V's, Pennsylvania Libations, A519 Chocolate, Blume Honey Water, Braddock's Pittsburgh Brasserie, Con Alma, Double Wide Grill, Eddie Merlot's, Lidia's Pittsburgh, Molinaro's, Monterey Bay, Pittsburgh Smokehouse, and Parkhurst.

There are two ticket tiers for this year's event: VIP tickets at $250 and General Admission at $125. With a VIP ticket guests will be able to gain early access to the party from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. VIPs will also enjoy an exclusive show from Beauty Slap, a performance by Pittsburgh and Broadway legend Lenora Nemetz, complimentary cocktails courtesy of Pennsylvania libations, exclusive catering from Eddie V's, and early access to more restaurant offerings.

Guests who purchase General Admission tickets are welcome to join the party at 8 p.m. and enjoy the many restaurant offerings, cocktails, live performances, and more. Tickets are available for purchase via Showclix .

Director of the Pittsburgh Film Office Dawn Keezer explained that the Gala is "crucial in continuing successful operations of the Pittsburgh Film Office and supporting the film industry here locally." Keezer hopes that many will come to the event in order to support and promote the industry endeavors of the region.


A Woman Who Knows How To Style & Glam

"We have a place for everybody" says Jamyce Patterson, owner and CEO of Style & Glam, LLC. Many people don't realize the amount of talent that hairstylists, makeup artists, photographers, and videographers all put into making a glowing fashion event. Jamyce Patterson is trying to change that.

After leaving her job in corporate America, Patterson began working on her own luxury fashion boutique. A while later, PGH Style and GLAM (now named Style & Glam LLC) was born. Style & Glam is an organization that produces a plethora of fashion-focused events in Pittsburgh, as well as a high-fashion magazine. However, Patterson learned that there's so much more that goes into the fashion industry than just fashion. There's makeup artists, hair stylists, photographers, videographers, models, and designers-- not all of whom are given the proper recognition and opportunities they deserve. So, Style & Glam began to help fashion communities connect with people, not just other professionals but also to the press and to potential clients.
This lead Patterson to start Runway Week, which is a year-round celebration of everything that goes into the fashion industry. Each week-long event, held continually throughout the year, showcases fashion entrepreneurs and shows local talent from makeup to models. These events also serve to bring people together. Something Patterson is really passionate about is building a real network of Pittsburgh fashion professionals. Runway Week provides an opportunity for people in fashion to meet each other and both build relationships for professional reasons and share advice and information to make our fashion community stronger. Some of these events include workshops for aspiring models, local fashion vendor mixers, and of course, runway shows. Patterson's own experience as a small business owner brought her to this union, but Runway Week is just getting started.

Runway Week continues to grow and is now receiving national attention. Big names are working together and bringing their expertise to the local area, letting Pittsburgh-based fashion industry workers network with larger names outside of Pittsburgh. These bigger names can help Pittsburgh's fashion community come together and share knowledge with local designers to help create a fashion scene right here in Pittsburgh that cements us as a strong, united, fashion community.

Fabric 101 

When you are investing in the best, you might want to know a bit more about what you are buying. All the clothing sold at Larrimor's is crafted in fine fabrics from the world's top mills. So, here is a quick primer on the highest quality raw materials that make these fabrics so special. 

Cashmere is made from the ultra-fine, long belly hairs of Kashmir goats.These revered creatures graze in various locations around the world, but the best cashmere comes from goats in Inner Mongolia, where herders use special combs to collect the cashmere manually. Like all material, not all cashmere is equal and the best cashmere will result in long-term performance.

Merino wool derives from one of the most historically relevant and economically influential breeds of sheep.The best merino wool is sourced from sheep in Australia and New Zealand. The wool from these animals is like a naturally coiled spring, providing fluidity, crease resistance and comfort in your clothing.

The yarn from the vicuna is considered even more precious than cashmere. Vicunas were nearly extinct in the 1980's. Severe water shortages during Andean winters meant fewer new births. Fortunately, renowned fabric and clothing maker Ermengilda Zegna stepped in to provide water - for the animals and the local residents. From 5000 Vicunas in the late eighties there are an estimated 150,000 today.

No matter where you shop for men's suits, jackets or trousers, you will see the label "Super100s", Super150s" or higher. It seems that everyone boasts that these fabrics are made from super yarns. What really determines the quality is the denier of the yarn. The really "good stuff" starts at 18 microns and finds it way below 12 microns. The ideal super-lux wools are in the 14-15 microns and feel like cashmere. Ermengilda Zegna has its own proprietary version that is 15 microns. The higher the number, the softer, more expensive and more delicate the fabric. Let the buyer be informed!

The above content is provided by our friends at Larrimor's.