NEW YORK, Sept. 13, 2021 -- American culture seems to be a common thread at this year’s fashion week as the industry comes back to life. The Met Gala theme was “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion”, 9/11 saw its 20th anniversary and the city honored it with grace, and the country came together over the weekend in a joyous display of unity thanks to the return of fashion week post-covid.

On September 12, 2021, Nolcha Shows at New York Fashion Week nodded to resounding themes of Americana emanating from New York City, with their VIP treatment of US military spouses, appearances from Miss USA Asya Branch, Miss Universe Andrea Meza, and Miss World Alissa Anderegg.

The vibrant show took place at 608 Fifth Avenue and began with the national anthem performance by Army spouse Deidra Lee Stubbs. Four designer brands were then featured on Nolcha’s runway for their “Ones to Watch” showcase, and cell phone shutters clicked incessantly as the sprinkle of influencers in the crowd marveled at the innovative looks strutting down the runway. Joining us was a very deserving group of attendees for a VIP treatment; military spouses. They sat with Emmy-award winner Victoria Konefal, NFT artist FEWOCiOUS, actor London Brown from “Power Book III” and HBO hit series “Ballers”, among other notable guests. Military spouses truly are the backbone of the United States military community. With long deployments, demanding training schedules, and frequent moves, being a military spouse requires a different kind of sacrifice than we know our service members make. These hardships impact employment, leading to a 38% unemployment rate for military spouses. Their VIP experience started with hairstyling, led by award-winning and celebrated hairstylist Gerard Caruso, followed by a "glam session" by Monique Rinard with AOFM, jewelry provided by designer Randy Luna, and concluded with front row seats, backstage access, and catered dining by Chef Tova.

Nolcha Shows NYFW Presents the Following Fashion Brands:

KavenLiu DIMOR SS 2022

The 5th Season SS 2022

KLOVA SS 2022

KOREANO SS 2022

Ashton Jewelry

Colorado-based Ashton Burridge carefully and artfully crafts her jewelry designs, inspired by her time spent in Italy. The pieces draw inspiration from art history, with elements of ancient themes and are rich in detail. Ashton Jewelry uses antique techniques like etching to illustrate an authentic expression of creativity. The process is tedious, and the jewelry is made up of repurposed gold and silver and ethically sourced precious gems. Not a gram of material goes un-repurposed at Ashton Jewelry, making for a beautifully ethical brand.

Calista Jewelry

Calista is a Mexican contemporary jewelry brand by sisters Laura and Regina Hernandez. Their collection is inspired by Egyptian mythology, and titled Bennu, after a mythological bird with a likeness to the mythological phoenix. Each creation at Calista is expertly created in 22K gold plated brass, lapis lazuli, and red coral. This collection will emphasize the idea that “after dark, there will be light with the rising sun.”

In addition to the fashion on the runway, Nolcha Shows featured Perfect Corp., the world’s leading global beauty tech solutions provider and developer of augmented reality (AR) and artificial intelligence (AI)-powered virtual beauty try-on technologies, as they launched a new, ultra-personalized beauty tech SaaS solution, YouCam Tutorial. By launching with makeup artists at The Nolcha Shows NYFW Runway Show, YouCam Tutorial supported the step-by-step process of educating backstage artists on the creative direction of their runway makeup looks. During the event, YouCam Makeup debuted its groundbreaking AI-powered solution, unveiling it to beauty lovers everywhere for the first time.

We were thrilled to bring our revolutionary educational AR & AI-powered virtual beauty experience, YouCam Tutorial, to NYFW this year at The Nolcha Shows. “By enabling brands to showcase step-by-step animated beauty tutorials and educate makeup artists on the looks created for the runway, we’re helping to advance makeup artistry for the future and ultimately, connect customers and brands in a whole new way,” says Alice Chang, founder and CEO of Perfect Corp.

Official Sponsors include: AOFM, Waterdrop, Perfect Corp, InstaSleep Mint Melts, BARCO and Dermalogica.

About The Nolcha Shows:

The Nolcha Shows, now in its 14th year, is an award-winning event held during New York Fashion Week to showcase independent and emerging fashion designers to a global audience of press, retailers, stylists and industry influencers. The Nolcha Shows have become renowned as an incubator of talent and a platform of discovery, promoting cutting-edge, innovative fashion designers through runway shows and exhibitions. The event is officially recognized by the New York City Economic Development Corporation, offering a range of cost-effective options to help independent fashion designers gain recognition and develop their businesses. The Nolcha Shows consistently receives positive media coverage, including features in Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, WWD, New York Magazine, Elle, Entrepreneur, The Financial Times, The New York Times, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, CBS, NY1, US Weekly, NBC, and Inc.

About WATERDROP®

Waterdrop® is the world’s first microdrink, a compact sugar-free cube that dissolves in water, enriching it with natural fruits, plants and vitamins to increase essential hydration. Exclusively sourced from the best fruits and plants from trusted farmers all around the globe, be it Acai from Brazil, Asian Ginseng or Star Fruit from Southeast Asia, waterdrop® provides the finest ingredients the world has to offer. With a total of four diverse flavours ranging from sweet to herbal, each drink can be tailored to the individual and their wants and needs. The waterdrop® mission is simple - drink more water.

About InstaSleep Mint Melts: are a fast-acting drug-free sleep aid formulated by physicians.InstaSleep was developed to help fall asleep faster and wake up without morning grogginess. Whether you have occasional sleeplessness, are a frequently jet-lagged traveler or are simply tired of counting sheep, you can rest easy with InstaSleep.

About Perfect Corp. With over 900 Million downloads globally, Perfect Corporation is dedicated to transforming how consumers, content creators and beauty brands interact together through AI and AR technologies. Our experienced team of engineers and beauty aficionados are pushing the frontiers of technology to create the beauty platform of the future– a fluid environment where individuals express themselves, learn the latest about fashion and beauty, and enjoy instant access to the products from their favorite brands. To discover expert beauty tech insights and unlock powerful ROI secrets, read our Complete Guide to Beauty Tech.