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Iowa Designers Work to Bring More Fashion to the Hawkeye State

courtesy of the Iowa Fashion Project
a photo from the Iowa Fashion Project's first event at Film Scene in Iowa City

The Midwestis not traditionallyregarded as a style hub, but a few young designers based in Iowa are trying to change that. They’ve launched the Iowa Fashion Project, which will hold its first full fashion show in just a few weeks.

Simeon Tally, who is owner of the t-shirt line calledGuns and Butter and is an organizer for the Iowa Fashion Project, says there’s more going on with fashion in this state than a lot of people give it credit for.

“You don’t see the collaborative nature we foster here in Iowa in L.A. or New York or some of the bigger markets. People are very cynical when we talk about Iowa fashion, but we want to work with people in whatever space or line they are trying to create.”

During this hour of Talk of Iowa, host Charity Nebbe talks with Tally and designers who are part of the project including Lee Miller, co-owner of Gentleman Care; Emily Carlson, owner/founder of Peplum and Paisley; and Andre Wright, owner of BLU Collar.

Wright says that when people ask him why he decided to start a fashion line in Iowa, he usually answers the same way.

“Why not Iowa?”

Lindsey Moon is IPR's Senior Digital Producer
Charity Nebbe is the host of IPR's Talk of Iowa