As style director of Charleston Magazine from 1997-2007, Ayoka Lucas had her finger on the pulse of the fashion industry for a decade. Soon came a massive vision to put Charleston on the map of the fashion world. Backed by the owners of Charleston Magazine and Misty Lister, the marketing director, Lucas followed her dream and founded Charleston Fashion Week in 2007.
After CFW’s first year, it became clear that there was a need for a professional event planner who could handle the pressure of coordinating the entire production of 40 shows throughout the week, with eight events per night. Enter Naomi Russell, who was then based in Manhattan, where she executed national events for This Old House. Recruited effectively as the executive director of CFW, Russell moved to Charleston where she spent the first few years navigating ticketing, searching for volunteers, attending production meetings, circumventing budget parameters and helping create the original dream team.
When Lucas approached Jacqueline Lawrence about onboarding as Russell’s right hand on the runway side, due to her background in fashion, Lawrence jumped at the chance. Additionally, Ashley Brook Perryman, a new hair and makeup artist who had recently returned to Charleston from school in Los Angeles, came on board as liaison between designers and a local salon who ran CFW’s hair and makeup team. Michelle Wood, who had just moved back to her hometown of Charleston from traveling and living all over the world as a supermodel representing brands like Chanel, Armani, Vivienne Westwood and Oscar de la Renta, also joined the crew as a volunteer modeling mentor. Wood admitted that back then, she secretly wondered how the words ‘Charleston’ and ‘fashion’ could be found in the same sentence.
That same year, in 2008 when the dream team came together, the emerging designer competition was also launched as a platform to give local designers (who at the time were hand-sewing their creations at home) the opportunity to showcase their work and for models to get noticed.
Russell recalled that one year during the emerging designer contest, the finalists weren’t announced until 10 p.m. By the time she and Lawrence returned to their hotel room, they found themselves falling asleep as they climbed over rolling racks crammed with dresses designed by Christian Siriano of Project Runway, stored there presumably to avoid being stolen from inside the tents. Alas, with production and backstage crew arriving for the Bridal Show starting the next morning at 4 a.m., rest was not a luxury Russell or Lawrence could afford.
Meanwhile, as Perryman was working with the salon during those first couple of years, she fantasized about assembling her own backstage team of diverse artists who had the talent to make every skin tone and hair type look beautiful, just like at New York Fashion Week. As the event grew, Perryman’s needs did as well, so she pitched the idea and was ecstatic when it was approved in 2010.
After her first year working with CFW, in 2011, Wood was brought on as a paid consultant and amassed a team of interns to help her with the casting process of 250+ models auditioning over a two-day period. She was also spearheading rehearsals that helped models walk with confidence, thereby helping control any chaos that might present itself backstage.
By this time, Russell and Lawrence were juggling the whole production side of the event, including tents, lighting, stage setup, run-of-show logistics and creative meetings with production, DJs, hair & makeup and the model teams. Because Russell and the team had developed such clear and open communication, she trusted that everyone knew what they were doing, which she said, “freed up my head space so I could stay focused on my tasks.”
Once all the players had grown into their roles, the CFW brand morphed into a high-end luxury boutique fashion event, catching the eye of none other than Fern Mallis, creator of NYFW. In 2013, Mallis invited big names like Rachael Roy, Siriano, Michael Knight and Amsale to be judged by other feature designers. Then in 2016, Hendrick Lexus Charleston came on board as the title sponsor of CFW. In 2022, CFW’s venue moved from the tents in Marion Square to Memminger Auditorium, now Festival Hall, which gratefully has air conditioning, bathrooms, and according to Perryman, elevated lighting
Today hair and makeup artists Perryman worked with backstage are also working on movie and commercial sets, or backstage in London, Paris, Milan and New York. Models taught by Wood and scouted at CFW are walking runways in shows all over the world. Lucas has since moved to New York, and Russell went on to pursue other passions. Lawrence, who took over as executive director in 2022 said, “I feel privileged to be a part of CFW and to have grown it into what it is today. It’s quite an honor to work with such talented people. Naomi and I became best friends, and I could never be where I am without that team.”
Russell added, “Despite the long hours, we all came together for the common cause: making the magic happen. And our fashion family will always have a special place in my heart.”
Perryman agreed, saying, “We do it for the creativity, camaraderie and the family environment that comes with working backstage together. I can’t believe how hard we have worked. It’s been such a big part of my life and I’ve learned so much from my team.”
Wood remarked, “Every one of the models is going to have job interviews where they will need to have confidence. And that’s what I teach them. It’s why I stay so involved.”
Thanks to the CFW dream team, the words ‘Charleston’ and ‘fashion’ not only belong in the same sentence today, they’re near synonymous.
By Sarah Rose
