Fashion Week San Diego (FWSD), California’s largest traditional fashion week, announced recently its highly-anticipated New York runway show, “The Art and Beauty Behind Fashion,” is going virtual with a first-of-its-kind experience. In partnership with Sotheby’s and Art Renewal Center (ARC), the online salon exhibition will feature a digital catalog of the 99 ARC Salon exhibiting works, a virtual walk through space of the show, videos and exclusive interviews with the artists and executives from FWSD and ARC. The virtual exhibition will be presented worldwide at Sotheby’s.com from July 13 to July 31, and viewers at home may vote for the top fashion designer during that time.

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In “The Art and Beauty Behind Fashion,” eight FWSD designers will debut their original couture outfits paired with and inspired by premier pieces from the 14th ARC Salon Competition, presented on socially distant models. The distinguished ARC Salon Competition is the largest in the world for representational art, receiving over 4,300 entries from 73 countries during the last cycle and spanning six continents. The eight winning paintings, paired with FWSD designers’ original looks, allows the artists to promote Contemporary Realism to a wider audience and expose the Representational Art Movement to top fashion designers around the world. In addition, this will allow FWSD designers to gain exposure to top art collectors and influencers globally, creating an ideal partnership.

The digital exhibition will capture the stories behind each pairing, featuring footage from both the fashion designer and artist on their creative process from conception to final presentation. The winning designer and painting pairing of the virtual show will be announced at FWSD’s signature runway event this October in San Diego, where each of the eight modern looks will be presented on live models. –News release