Jenice Armstrong: Philly fashions a big show

MAN-ABOUT-TOWN Jimmy Contreras shuttered his eponymous boutique, JimmyStyle, on Passyunk Avenue on July 31.

Given the latest economic numbers, there's really no reason to ask why.

Who's shopping till they drop right now? I know I'm not. My fashion diet has stretched through most of the summer and I'm not sure when it'll let up. Christmas, maybe? These are scary times, and when customers like us get the jitters, retailers wind up with empty stores.

"The economy has really taken everyone for a loop. Nobody's making the dollars they used to make anymore," Contreras told me. "I'm a strong believer in the way to drive business in your store is you need to have events."

That's why he and other retailers are excited about a city initiative created to do precisely that.

Called the Philadelphia Collection 2010, it's a two-week series of trunk shows, open houses and fashion shows organized by the Office of the City Representative.

The Collection, announced yesterday at the Piazza at Schmidts, in Northern Liberties, kicks off Sept. 23 with a "girls' night out" event at Joan Shepp on Walnut Street. Dozens of events will follow, concluding with a fashion show and mixer at Banana Republic by FBH - The Agency on Oct. 2.

No, it's not going to be like New York's famed fashion week, during which big-time designers show off their spring collections to buyers from around the world and A-list celebrities.

But the Collection 2010 could well be a start in terms of organizing Philadelphia's disparate fashion elements, which for too long have all been doing their own thing. You might hear about one group's starting a Philadelphia Fashion Week, then a few weeks later, you'd hear about another. It's been confusing to keep track of who is doing what.

Now there will be some cohesion.

"It's a matter of being able to come together and work as a unit. In New York, it doesn't matter who you are," said Solomon Williams, who's planning his own event on Saturday, a Caribbean Fashion Weekend Show and Benefit Auction for Haiti, at Vernon Park on Germantown Avenue.

"Here, there's a lot of hating that takes place. 'My designs are better than yours.' 'I was in school before you,' " Williams continued. "It's time for Philadelphia to grow up and mature as an entire community."

Williams won't be part of this year's Philadelphia Collection, but many of the city's best-known fashion players - designer Ron Wilch, stylist Stephanie Can, Phasion Phest's Sharon Waxman and Paula Hian, for example - will be.

"It's a starting point," Wilch, a menswear designer, said before the news conference. "A representative from every major retail store should have been here . . . but going forward we will see."

Cain recalled a time back in the '80s when the city's signature fashion event was a weekend celebration called Philadelphia Dresses the World, organized by the late Libby Haines Hyman. But as designers moved out of town, the event's popularity dwindled and eventually it faded away.

The hope is that the Philadelphia Collection will help the city raise its profile in the industry and nudge consumers back into stores.

But how many mixers and cocktail parties can we attend before even the diehard fashionista gets a hangover?

Stylist Anthony Henderson, who is promoting another series of fashion-related events called "17 Days of Fashion," doesn't think there can be too much.

"It's becoming almost three months of fashion . . . Philadelphia will be on fire," said Henderson. "The fashion community is waking up."

Then, he dashed off to a cocktail party at Omega Optical.

Send e-mail to heyjen@phillynews.com. My blog: http://go.philly.com/heyjen.