Philly Fashion Week kicks off with spotlight on local designers

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Philly Fashion Week is underway, and organizers call this the most show-stopping year yet.

The goal is to shine a bright spotlight on Philly's fashion scene.

"These designers put so much into these collections," says Kevin Parker, the founder and producer of Philly Fashion Week.

"I'm just so excited to create a platform for these designers to be discovered," he added.

Parker says he designed this event to put Philly on the fashion map.

"I've heard so many designers saying, 'I have to move to L.A. or to New York in order to make it as a business owner,'" Parker says. "I said, 'We have to build the infrastructure here.'"

From New York to Paris to Dubai, Wilmington, Delaware-based designer Dell Scott has taken her designs across the globe. Still, she says there's nothing like the Philly vibe.

"Everybody's energetic," Scott says. "Everybody's excited. That energy already exists here in Philly, so it's easy to just put the reflection on the runway and just feel everybody's energy."

Scott says this fashion moment is about going big and going glam.

"It's something about a gown," she says of her formalwear, "the way she walks, the way she talks, the way she carries herself in a gown that I truly, truly love."

South Philly designer Christopher Brown's Closet by Christobal collection is also very "more is more."

"This is a stepping out moment, it's about having fun and not putting limits on anything," Brown says. "Throw the rules out the window and wear what feels good."

Philly Fashion Week also celebrates student designers and features a size-inclusive runway show.

"Fashion is for everybody," Parker says. "We want to represent that with our production. It's very inclusive. You'll see a little bit of everybody on our runway."

Philly Fashion Week features a variety of free and ticketed runway shows, workshops, and networking events.

It runs through Sunday, September 24.