Fashion's Big 'Night Out' at NC Music Factory, Butter

Thursday night I attended what is likely one of the largest fashion shows Charlotte has ever seen. To kick off Fashion’s Night Out, a global shopping initiative, Butter NC and Effie Loukas (owner of Lotus boutiques) hosted a fashion show in the courtyard at NC Music Factory. The fashion show featured 16 boutiques, 17 salons, and dozens of models.

I’ve been to several fashion shows in Charlotte and because there's usually fewer than a handful of boutiques/labels featured, the actual runway portion of the fashion show typically only lasts a few minutes. But because of the large number of boutiques participating in Thursday’s show, models strutted back and forth for more than 30 minutes, creating a thorough showcase of what local boutiques have to offer.

Prior to the fashion show starting, the large crowd—I’m estimating at least 800 people—mingled, sipped drinks, and took pictures for about an hour in the courtyard while music played by DJ Ciprian blared from Butter’s balcony. Following the show, which also served as a benefit for the American Heart Association's Go Red For Women campaign, an after-party flowed seamlessly into Butter.

NC Music Factory proved to be an excellent location for this event, and Charlotte has shown once again that it is embracing a burgeoning fashion scene. Local boutiques, salons, stylists, designers, and models have been coming together in great efforts to showcase their talents. (Next up is Charlotte NC Fashion Week, September 23-25, which I’ll be blogging about soon.)

Below are two videos I captured. The first features models wearing apparel from The Pink Hanger. The second video shows the large troop of models coming out for their curtain call—to the sounds of Butter’s signature song (“Blow the Whistle-Playoff Remix,” in which Jay-Z shouts them out with the line “If I ain’t at Butter, I’m down at 1 Oak,” two popular New York nightlife venues owned by the same partners).