Inside Carbondale’s transformed recreation center, the lights are off, and bright spotlights graze the audience.
Aerial performers hang from neon silks, and ever-transforming clown faces are projected above the catwalk in the middle of the room.
A group of carnival characters — including a ringmaster, fortune teller and mime — walk on stage at the top of the show to draw everyone’s attention.
18-year-old Sam Stableford is a mime, dressed in a typical uniform — a striped black-and-white shirt, suspenders and a painted face.
He remembers the first time he attended the Carbondale Fashion Show. He was a freshman at Roaring Fork High School at the time.
“I was like, ‘Oh my god. I have to get up there,’” Stableford said.
He did just that. The following year, Stableford joined the dance cast, and he eventually worked his way up to choreographer.
This is how he met Meagan Shapiro, one of the new directors of the fashion show.
“I couldn’t believe that Meagan looked at a 17-year-old and was like, ‘You know what? I kind of want to give you a piece and see what you do and run with it,’” Stableford said.
Shapiro became the director of dance last year. Fashion show founder and former director Amy Kimberly announced her resignation after 2024’s show.
Shapiro said it felt like a natural progression to step into the top role after her decade of experience in the fashion show. She went from leading about a dozen dancers to a crew of over 100.
“Somebody needed to step forward,” she said. “To be challenged creatively and to be challenged in the director role, to take on the whole cast, and not just the dance cast.”
Kimberly’s departure left many questioning the show’s future creative direction. She had led most aspects of the production since 2011.
But tickets for Friday and Saturday night this year still sold out within 15 minutes.
The fashion show is Carbondale Arts’ only ticketed event. The nonprofit’s Executive Director, Jamie Abbott, says demand keeps rising every year.
“There are so many fun ideas and so many talented people coming together that are all from our community,” she said.
Abbott said that includes the manager at Plosky’s Deli and several longtime Mountain Fair vendors. They take a break from their day jobs to work the bar, sell concessions and act as models.
“It’s the people in this community,” Abbott said. “We’re all like one degree of separation from each other, so it’s just seeing people in a different light that’s really cool.”
Shapiro said the theme was meant to be a commentary on the attention economy — how large-scale performances, like a carnival, capture your attention in the moment but leave a void afterward.
“While it’s this extravaganza of sensory enjoyment and talent and performance, the threads of narrative are around,” she said.
“What do we pay attention to — for how long? Why?”
The show included spectacles that attendees have come to expect, like projections on the walls and aerial performers. But there were also new additions, like an opening song and on-stage audience participation.
As for the clothes, fashion designers continued to use recycled materials — a longstanding requirement. A dress made out of bags of cotton candy and a giant mushroom were highlights of the night.
But some designs raised questions about cultural sensitivity among audience members, like what looked like a Native American headdress and a kimono-lingerie line.
Abbott said she and her staff have expectations for designers, but they do not often see the final products until just before the show.
“In the end, it’s art, and I think our job at Carbondale Arts is to hold space for the conversation that comes up,” Abbott said in an email.
“Instead of canceling anyone or any line, and creating a lot of chaos, I think our goal is to dive into the conversation, listen, and find the path where we can all grow and evolve — with as much grace as humanly possible.”
Designers mainly came from Colorado, but some pieces were flown in from as far as New York and California. Models and volunteers come from the Roaring Fork Valley.
“The models are all local people right here, of all shapes, sizes, ages, genders,” Abbott said. “And that’s a little bit of the beauty of it, too, that it’s not just like a typical fashion show. It’s fun to see people you know up there on stage, all glammed up.”
Stableford, the mime, is now a senior at Roaring Fork High School.
He said his high school experience — and who he is as a dancer — has been transformed by the show.
“The dance team — they really feel like a family,” Stableford said. “They’ve always been there behind my back, and making sure that they’re there supporting me in that way has been such a blessing in a lot of ways.”
Stableford will find out which colleges he gets into this month and where his future will take him — most likely to the East Coast and still dancing.
As for the fashion show, it may also be transformed in the future — potentially moving to a larger venue to accommodate more people or adding a matinee option next year.
While some things have changed at the fashion show, most have stayed the same — locals continue to support one of the most anticipated local events of the year.