The Runway, Michigan’s first fashion incubator, opened its doors Oct. 9 in downtown Lansing, giving a place for local fashion designers to bring their creations to life.
“That’s precisely what the Runway is all about, generating new ideas, new products, new businesses, setting the table for entrepreneurs to realize their dreams,” Mayor Virg Bernero said. “It’s so exciting to get an incredible start right here in Lansing.”
He said this innovation and entrepreneurship with be key drivers of the city’s future prosperity.
Runway operations manager, Jeff Henry, who’s a fashion designer and entrepreneur himself, said he has walked in the shoes of a lot of the designers involved with the project and knows just how important this space is to them.
When he was starting out, Henry said he had to work out of his small apartment and screen print in his parents’ garage.
The Runway, however, gives retail space, work space as well as office space for about 12 fashion designers. Unlike Henry, they have plenty of space to design, create and operate their business.
“To have a space this state of the art that has all of this equipment and of course, having this retail space as well is a huge platform for anyone to be standing on,” Henry said. “For those a part of this program, it’s a huge opportunity.”
One person in the Runway’s program is MSU apparel and textile design senior Katie Raynard, who said she doesn’t have much knowledge of the business side of the fashion industry with her design background.
“For me, it gives me resources, where I can learn and have access to community members who will support me in this endeavor,” Raynard said. “So it helps financially, marketing-wise, all the many different components of starting a business.”
Mayor Bernero said the hope is for promising designers in the area, like Raynard, to stay in Lansing and not move to places like Los Angeles or New York.
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