Friday, June 5th was a whirlwind of fashion, food and fun as the 7th annual fashion show, Cascade the Runway, whipped through downtown Akron. Locals donned their best duds and sashayed around the new Cascade Plaza.

This evening was a celebration of what downtown Akron has to offer. Nuevo, Urban Eats, Crave filled everyone’s bellies with mouth-watering food while Thirsty Dog Brewery Co., Norka, and The Winery at Wolf Creek quenched our parched throats.

DJ Kristi Wall, owner of Land of Plenty, provided music for most of the evening while Dina Younis, creator of the popular blog Dina’s Days, emceed.

The featured clothing shops included NOTO boutique, Allie M Designs, Lululemon, and Rubber City Clothing.

Rubber City Clothing kicked off the show with Akron inspired tees, pants, hoodies, dresses and accessories. All of their wear was causal, custom and fun. They had a wide range of models that kept things interesting.

Allie M Designs brought us a little bit of boho chic. All of their clothes flowed with flowers, crocheted patterns, and their models were often barefoot or in sandals.

Lululemon covered our sporty needs for the yogi within us. (Unfortunately, I was unable to get good quality photos of their models.)

NOTO Boutique was the headliner that blew us away with gorgeous designs and models who knew how to work the runway. They strutted their stuff as The Admirables graced the center stage and provided us with some soul to close out the evening.

Each shop had a booth set up for people to purchase most of what they saw on the runway. Overall, it was a great event that showed how much Akron supports and believes in its downtown, local businesses.

*Hair and makeup design from The Beauty Lounge, GlamNatural, Gavin Scott Salon, MC Hair, and Trish McEvoy Cosmetics.*

Thank you for reading,