Kansas City has long been a hub for fashion and clothing manufacturing. During the Garment District’s height, it was estimated that one in seven women in the United States donned a garment made in KC.
“That started to change during the Great Depression, and it never really got back to the way it was,” says Teisha Barber, Kansas City Fashion Week CEO. But since co-founding KCFW in 2010, she says the local industry has seen some resurgence. “It’s not so much of a manufacturing hub as it used to be, but we are seeing a lot more custom fashion designers that are making a name for themselves in Kansas City and beyond,” Barber says.
Today, KCFW produces two weeks of runway shows each year: one week for a Spring/Summer collection and another for Fall/Winter. Attracting local and international applicants alike, each collection features approximately 40 designers. Beyond KC, Barber also acquired St. Louis Fashion Week last year, which will make its return for the first time this June.
We sat down with Barber to talk trends, her personal style and more ahead of KCFW’s spring show, which runs from March 21–28 at Union Station.
What drew you to the fashion industry? My background is in interior design and architecture, but I did some modeling and event planning right out of college and was introduced to people in the fashion industry at those events. I started planning charity fashion shows and met our former owner Phil Willoughby. He asked me to help start Kansas City Fashion Week.
As a co-founder of KCFW, you served as the organization’s longtime president before acquiring the business in 2023. How have you seen the organization grow and evolve since its inception? When I first came on, Phil thought I was crazy. I wanted to do two weeks a year, just like New York. He said: “No, no, no—you’ve got to slow down. We’ve got to start with just one.” I said “Nope, if you’re going to have me on, we’re going to do two.” It’s been successful ever since, except for the year of Covid. Over the last 15 years, we’ve gone from a hotel ballroom with maybe 400 guests per night to Union Station, where we sometimes have over 900 guests per night.
As someone who is very tuned in to trends, which styles are you loving right now? One of the biggest shifts I’m seeing is a move toward elevated everyday dressing. People want pieces that feel polished but still wearable—tailored silhouettes, great fabrics and thoughtful details that work just as well for daytime as they do for evening. Something you can wear from the office directly to a happy hour or afterwork event.
What’s been really exciting is that people are less focused on following trends and more focused on expressing their own style. We’re seeing more individuality, creative layering and styling that reflects lifestyle rather than a single season.
Tell me what we can expect from KCFW’s upcoming collection. Are there any newcomers we should keep an eye out for on the runway? A lot more separates, actually. We have a lot of designers that do gowns and dresses, but this season we have a lot of designers that are piecing together complete looks with a lot of separate pieces that you mix and match.
I would watch Elle Stovall—she’s showing on Saturday night—and Emerald Honesta on Friday night. Wednesday night is full of all of our students. We have 11, which I’m really excited about, and most of them are new.
I’d love to know more about your own personal style. What do you like to wear? Polished off-duty. I work from home, so day-to-day is all about comfort, but when I step out for a meeting or a night out, I love relaxed silhouettes styled with intention—baggy denim, sneakers, a great sweater or jacket, or a flowy dress in a rich color or print. It’s effortless but still put together.