Fashion show is a hit at the Encore
Local models showed off all-new fashions from the bfearless store in Walnut Creek. The boutique-style store offers trendy clothing for women and a large selection of shoes for the whole family. The store is celebrating its five-year anniversary in 2018.
There was glamour and excitement everywhere one might look on Monday, May 14 as the bfearless Spring Fashion Show drew a near-capacity crowd to the newly completed and opened Berlin Encore Hotel and Suites.
Local models showed off all-new fashions from the bfearless store in Walnut Creek. The boutique-style store offers trendy clothing for women and a large selection of shoes for the whole family. The store is celebrating its five-year anniversary in 2018.
“This is also the fifth year for the fashion show,” said Tonya Schlabach, one of bfearless’ owners. “We started it five years ago when the Berlin Grand Hotel approached us about doing a fashion show there. It went really well and grew to the point where it needed more room.”
More room is exactly what the event found at Encore Suites. “Our show was the very first event at the hotel,” Schlabach said. “The occupancy permit for the large hall literally arrived earlier that day.”
The hotel was completing last-minute decorating with landscaping yet to be installed on the day of the show. The event saw close to 300 attendees who were treated to special treats and wood-fired food by Bahler Street mobile pizza truck as the evening got underway with a preshow party.
Schlabach said models for the show were mostly local women. “We hold a model casting event about a month before the show,” she said. “We watch how they walk and choose our models from there. They’re almost all local people, but we had a few from Akron and Coshocton. It’s a very diverse group of women, and they do a really great job. Every year I think it can’t get any better, and it always amazes me.”
Fashions and accessories seen at the show are all new arrivals. “We hold them until after the show before offering them in the store,” Schlabach said. “It’s all new for spring.”
Schlabach said each year bfearless chooses a charitable cause to benefit from proceeds from the fashion show. This year the beneficiary is Toward the Goal Ministries, a partner in the Tuscarawas County Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force.
The organization seeks to build awareness in the area of the problem of human trafficking, both in the labor and sex trades. Preshow information from Toward the Goal Ministries described the problem of human trafficking as a local one with victims having been identified in Tuscarawas and surrounding counties.
Toward the Goal Ministries seeks “to serve those at risk by investing in their lives proactively, walking alongside sex trafficking survivors as they heal and recover, and equipping and empowering those who are struggling to find freedom from pornography, a contributing factor which can feed demand.”
The spring fashion show featured live entertainment, live mannequins and plenty of upbeat music for the evening. The $35 tickets automatically enrolled guests in the stores VIP program.
Speakers for the show included bfearless owner Tim Schlabach, Jeremy Miller of Toward the Goal Ministries and Codi Mast of Homestead Furniture.
bfearless is located at 3147 OH-39 in Walnut Creek. Visit its website at www.b-fearless.com.
Berlin Encore Hotel and Suites is at 4363 state Route 39, across from Hiland High School. Find them at www.berlinencorehotel.com.