It can be hard to get jazzed about fashion when you live in a smaller city like Rochester. Fortunately,  new clothing boutiques have been popping up, determined to give Upstate New Yorkers a fashion fix. But if you’ve been skeptical about what’s about to happen in that big tent next to the highway, we’re going to ask you to challenge your comfort zone. While it may seem as though Fashion Week of Rochester was created to draw attention to a small community of models and designers, you can rest assured that there’s a bigger cause at play.

The whole mission of Fashion Week of Rochester, a non-profit organization, is to better the local community by hosting fashion-based charity events. For the last 8 years, FWR has been stealing the spotlight, only to refocus it on the issue of youth homelessness. By drumming up energy with exciting and surprising events, the organization has managed to celebrate the creative community while also achieving a significant impact. In 2016 alone, Fashion Week generated more than $400,000 for The Center for Youth. It’s also made a difference for the Crisis Nursery and Chrysalis House, and helped the Center to open its New Beginning House residence.