By Stephanie Elverd
Emily Rouse, left, and Spencer Porter, organizers of Wheeling Fashion Week, are pictured at during the sustainability clothes swap event at Centre Market in Wheeling.
WHEELING — Sustainability, style and community came together Wednesday evening as residents gathered at Centre Market for a clothing swap held as part of the second annual Wheeling Fashion Week.
The event invited participants to bring gently used clothing items and exchange them for new-to-them pieces, promoting sustainable fashion practices at the Upper Market House as part of a growing regional celebration of fashion and creativity.
“Basically, you bring clothes, take some clothes and whatever is left we will donate. It’s a chance to clean out your closet and refresh your closet all at the same time,” said event organizer Emily Rouse.
Rouse said the idea grew directly out of community feedback from last year’s inaugural events.
“When we were asking for feedback from last year’s events, multiple people suggested doing a clothing swap,” she said. “We can give a second life to things that are in our closets and it really went into our sustainability aspect as well.”
That sustainability message, she added, reflects a growing movement in fashion that emphasizes reuse, upcycling and reducing waste by giving garments a second life instead of sending them to landfills.
“It’s so important. Sustainability is so important in the fashion world. What’s really cool is our runaway designers on Friday really show that full circle,” Rouse said. “We have everything from cutting and making the clothing from the very beginning, all the way through to designers who source pieces, do some sewing and upcycle them so they have new designs. We have the whole circle happening.”
Another goal of the clothing swap is to build community connections among local creatives and artists, creating space for collaboration, shared ideas and relationships within Wheeling’s growing fashion and design community.
“I hope they come out and meet the fashion community. I hope to network and meet other like-minded people who are interested in fashion and share common interests,” she said.
Now in its second year, Wheeling Fashion Week is a volunteer-driven nonprofit initiative founded in 2025 by Wheeling native Emily Rouse. The event was created to highlight local designers, boutiques, artists and entrepreneurs while showing that fashion communities can thrive outside major metropolitan areas.
Following a successful debut year that culminated in a sold-out runway show at Waterfront Hall, this year’s expanded lineup includes educational programs, pop-up events and community gatherings held throughout the Ohio Valley.
The 2026 schedule began June 7 with a brunch at the First State Capitol and has included a plant-and-sip event at Esoterica, a decades of hair and makeup discussion at the Ohio County Public Library, and an accessories workshop at Nini’s Treasures in Triadelphia.
Rouse said the broader effort is rooted in showcasing Wheeling’s creative identity and the cultural depth of the region.
“We are trying to put Wheeling on the map for fashion so this is something that is emerging, fashion weeks are emerging in different cities across the whole country,” she said. “It’s not just something for Los Angeles or New York, it’s something that any city can have. We have such a great variety of designers in Wheeling and the photographers and the hair and makeup artists that we want to show off and show that we have a place that can do this.”
“We are finding more and more designers in Wheeling. As more people hear that there are these types of opportunities here, it seems like its drawing more people. We have local designers from here in Wheeling and designers who are traveling from Pittsburgh and Southern West Virginia. It’s really grown into a regional event. All based here in Wheeling,” she added.
For Rouse, fashion is where art meets functionality.
“I studied fashion design under a fine arts program but it’s a different form of art. It’s one that we wear and use our bodies as canvases,” she said. “There is a lot of creativity but it’s also very functional. We are all wearing clothes everyday.”
The week continues Thursday with fashion-themed drink specials at Table 304, followed by Friday’s runway show at Waterfront Hall, which will feature local and regional designers presenting their latest collections. A designer pop-up shop is scheduled for Saturday, giving attendees a chance to purchase runway pieces and support local creators.
“If anybody is still interested in getting tickets, we have a few left for Friday, so hop on that fast at whgfashionweek.com,” Rouse said.