Bloom Runway fashion show on Juneteenth weekend will showcase ‘Black joy’ and Portland talent

When

Abibat Durosimi

founded Bloom Beauty Collective in Portland in 2017, her goal was to draw on her more than 20 years of experience in the beauty and entertainment industries to, as she says, “share what it looks like for Black and brown creative entrepreneurs in the production industry.”

Bloom Beauty Collective grew from its origins as an event production company specializing in Northwest apparel and fashion into the

Bloom Agency,

which provides such services as managing hair stylists, makeup artists and models; workshops; and, as the site says, efforts to enhance companies’ diversity, equity and inclusion strategies.

“We create a platform for Black and brown voices to be heard,” Durosimi says, and work to “make sure that brands are authentically choosing talent that really represents the community.”

That vision led to the creation of “our very first Bloom Runway,” Durosimi recalls, a fashion event that showcased upcoming designers and boutiques. The Bloom Runway shows were successful until the momentum stopped when the Covid pandemic hit in 2020.

“We were gearing up; it was two weeks before we were going to do the showcase, and then we were all closed down,” Durosimi says.

An image from a 2019 Bloom Agency runway show. . After a five-year hiatus, the event returns on June 21, with “Dynasty IX: Crowned in Legacy.”

Jim Nelson/Courtesy of Bloom Agency

But, after a five-year hiatus, Bloom Runway is back for a show on June 21. The event is called

“Dynasty IX: Crowned in Legacy,”

and it’s described as an “immersive fashion experience showcasing visionary BIPOC designers” for “a cultural statement closing out Juneteenth week with style, substance, and soul.”

The show will include creations from local fashion and apparel companies as well as showcasing work created by students at the

Portland Fashion Institute.

In addition to the runway show, the event will include a marketplace featuring brands whose owners are Black, Indigenous and people of color; a spoken word performance by Mac Smiff, accompanied by dancer Ola Onipede; and a post-show dance party mixer with DJ Solo.

Among the Portland apparel companies included in the show will be

Black Earth United,

founded by Jocelyn Rice and which specializes in outdoor wear that reflects elements of the Black American experience,

as Rice has said.

“It’s great to be able to come and showcase my second collection,” Rice says, who has been a designer in the outdoor industry for more than a decade. “I’ve worked for some major heritage brands, and I left to start Black Earth United, which is a regenerative apparel company that focuses on getting folks outside and really focuses on ancestral wisdom, repair and care for the land.”

The collection Rice will show at the June 21 event will incorporate bold colors and “Black joy,” Rice says, with colors “drawn from Afrocentric palettes. We’ve got a lot of reds and blacks and yellow and blues that are a signal of resistance and creativity and spiritual wealth within our community.”

Holding the Bloom Runway “Dynasty IX: Crowned in Legacy” show on June 21, shortly after the

Juneteenth holiday,

is significant, Durosimi says.

Juneteenth, which is observed each year on June 19, was declared a federal holiday in 2021 and recognized by the state of Oregon in 2022. The holiday happens on that date because it was June 19, 1865, that in Texas the last enslaved people in the country learned they were free, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.

“The main reason why we’re doing it around Juneteenth is to celebrate our culture,” says Durosimi. “Not only just thinking about how we got here through Juneteenth, and the trauma that comes along with it, but more so just celebrating ourselves now.”

Including students from the Portland Fashion Institute, Durosimi says, will show them “exactly how we show up for ourselves in our best way. And the fact that we’re doing it right at the tail end of Juneteenth is just a great ending of how we should celebrate ourselves.”

The Bloom Runway “Dynasty IX: Crowned in Legacy” event happens Saturday, June 21, at the Melody Ballroom, 615 S.E. Alder St. Doors open at 6 p.m., and show begins at 7 p.m. Tickets are $40-$140. For details:


tickettomato.com/event/9383/bloom-runway-dynasty-ix

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