READY FOR THE RUNWAY 5 young Detroit designers headed to New York for Fashion Week show

SHERRI WELCH

Detroiter Shawn Woodward has long dreamed of seeing his art walk down a New York runway.

He’s about to see that dream come true at the age of 18.

Woodward is one of ve local youth whose head-to-toe or “total look” designs will be featured in a runway show Feb. 7 in the run-up to New York Fashion Week as part of Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeastern Michigan’s fashion industry club program.

It’s the chance of a lifetime, he said, to show his Skullxer brand apparel with cut fabric applied to pants, shirts and coats to create a painted-on look.

He’s hoping the opportunity will help springboard his brand.

“Not a lot of people, especially young designers, get a chance to be featured in New York Fashion Week with designers and have mentors they can work with,” he said.

“I didn’t expect this.” e ve aspiring Detroit designers, aged 13-19 who are headed to New York, will get a rst-hand look at the behind-the-scenes work it takes to make those designs a reality. e event at Louis Vuitton will also feature designs from ve established New York designers who have been mentoring them for the past six months.

Each of the ve youth going to New York are building their own businesses, which is one of the reasons they were selected, President and CEO Shawn Wilson said. e Detroit Pistons and NBA Foundation are sponsoring the trip.

When they return from New York, they’ll take their designs and exhibits to the stages at BGCSM’s local clubs to inspire hundreds of their peers, Wilson said.

“ is is part of what makes our industry clubs unique. We have to help our youth build a sense of self-e cacy...that they believe they can be successful,” Wilson said. “Performance-based accomplishments help do that.”

Supply chain journal FreightWaves reported that high diesel costs and sinking freight rates pushed trucking conditions to an 18-month low in October, second only to April 2020. Industrywide, overall tonnage hauled dipped by 3.7 percent in October and November due to an oversupply of carriers and less demand for shipping, according to a fourth-quarter report by third-party logistics provider Evans Transportation Services.

At the same time, trailers and trucks are getting more expensive. Operating costs hit an all-time high in 2022 of $1.86 per mile, according to the Evans report.

Michigan trucking executives say one new challenge is an oversupply of carriers. That’s due in part to drivers who left their companies or entered the industry during the pandemic to work as owner-operators for “spot” rates — the price to move a product at one point in time, as opposed to long-term contract rates that make up most of the industry.