Thank you for all the interest in Raleigh Fashion Week and STRUT.

Here’s the latest...

Two years ago Brian Williams Television created a one night fashion show and entertainment special, staged at North Hills. That night we brought back talented "national" designers with Raleigh roots, dressed the area’s most beautiful and popular models in their designs, added a few music and dance numbers, raised some money for Interact…and produced the evening as a TV special for CW22 and MyRDC.

Based on the success of STRUT 08, we took RALEIGH FASHION WEEK and STRUT 09 to the Raleigh Convention Center for 3 days and nights of Fashion, Music, Dance and more Fashion. We staged 4 shows featuring the most talented local and national designers (including some "budding" high school kids), the best models, great music and dance, and even convinced the area’s television and entertainment celeb’s to hit the stage to model! The finale of RFW, STRUT 09, again featured some of the top designers in the country (with Raleigh "roots") in a red–carpet night that filled the arena. We created an event that entertained, gave Raleigh-area designers a "stage" and raised some money for charity. This time it resulted in a 2–hour primetime TV Special.

As many of you know, my TV credits include producing and directing sports and entertainment shows for the networks (CBS, ESPN, NBC). This year, (thankfully) I’m booked for a full schedule of productions through the fall.

While RFW and STRUT were great fun to create and stage, they were also a great challenge to create, stage and finance. With my heavy network production schedule and the unsure economy, we’ve decided to take a year off with RFW and STRUT. I’m disappointed, to say the least. I believe events like this are important for the Raleigh area. They’re important for the "big city" entertainment appeal and as opportunities for local designers, models and entertainers to "strut" their stuff before a live audience and on television. They also afford a great opportunity for area businesses to connect with an active, upscale audience, passionate about the fashion and entertainment scene.

For all those reasons, RFW and Strut will be back!

Now, if anyone has a sponsor who insists there must be a one–night STRUT in 2010...