Fashion show raises over $175,000 for Alaskan nonprofit

A model dressed by Cotzeby designer Daniel Rock walks the runway for the opening of the Trends Alaska Fashion Show in Anchorage Saturday, January 28, 2023. (Emily Messner / ADN)

This year’s Trend Alaska Fashion Show helped raise more than $175,000 for Let Every Woman Know Alaska, a nonprofit that provides resources for women to help prevent gynecologic cancer.

Saturday night’s show featured work by 16 designers aged between 15 and 70, representing a wide swath of the state from Kotzebwe to Ketchikan.

Models showcased wearable art and a variety of clothing, including fur-lined garments, hoodies, dresses, and accessories such as suitcases and umbrellas.

Mary Rita Ellie, an ovarian cancer survivor and retired service high school teacher, was the highlight of the audience, as she modeled it after a fur coat that belonged to LEWK supporter Ellie Barnett. She died in her 2022 from ovarian cancer. The coat she auctioned for $6,500.

[Earlier: 16 Alaska designers are joining forces for a fundraising fashion show]

Ovarian cancer survivor Mary Rita Ealy models her fur coat for auction. (Emily Messner/ADN)

A model in an auctioned gown stands next to David Karp looking for a bidder. (Emily Messner/ADN)

Sarah DeVolld models a gown made by her. (Emily Messner/ADN)

Models walking the runway on Saturday pose to showcase designs by Joel Roesli. Wearing ribbon-colored clothes representing five gynecological cancers of the vagina. (Emily Messner/ADN)