By Nicole L. Gill, CouncilMag.com

When David Perry, founder and owner of Diana Darby Model Management, decided to put on his inaugural fashion show, he wanted a show that was a little different from other fashion shows in Washington, D.C. “I wanted to do something with the choreography; I wanted to do something with the look,” said Perry of The Art of Fashion Runway Show.

David Perry is building his model program at Diana Darby Model Management.

Photos by John Wardell

The show, held at Montgomery College Cultural Arts Center, featured the designs of Clyopatra Couture, Ethereal and Grace, Belle Flowers Fashion Design, EthniCITY Brand and Adrian Alicea. “I was trying to go for working with designers that aren’t always being seen in the area,” he said.

Adrian Alicea presented his collection at the Art of Fashion Runway Show.

Alicea regularly shows at New York Fashion Week and Style Fashion Week and he closed Perry’s show. Perry served as a casting director for Alicea’s show in New York. “He invited me to come up there and help him cast models. So I just did that,” Perry said.

Prior to staging this show, Perry knew all the designers except for Ethereal and Grace. One of his models suggested he consider the designer who focuses on clothing for plus-size women.

““My main focus would be to try to open the door to emerging, up-and-coming, avant-garde and on the cusp designers.””

— David Perry

For this show, Perry wanted to “offer another taste of DC fashion life.” He recognized that most of the designers in this first show are established but he hopes to feature emerging designers in upcoming shows.

Going forward, “I’d like to try some different ideas – get a little avant-garde, get a little artistic, a little creative with it,” he said. Perry wants to show “a total different side of what D.C. fashion life is all about. I don’t think that’s been tapped into.”