‘Our Season to Bloom’: E.C. Natives Hold Fashion Show
Emily Winzenz and Ella Beuning are shining lights on local creatives in fashion event
Pursuing your dreams is what life is all about. Just ask Eau Claire natives Emily Winzenz and Ella Beuning, who are producing their own fashion show on May 13 at the Hyland Hills Ski Chalet in Bloomington, Minnesota.
Winzenz and Beuning both grew up in Eau Claire but didn’t meet until they were students at the University of Minnesota. Beuning is majoring in psychology with a minor in art. Winzenz will be graduating this spring with a degree in neuroscience, psychology, and public health. She had initially planned on attending medical school, but COVID-19 changed her path.
“As the pandemic rolled in I was pretty burnt out in regards to school,” Winzenz said. “I just didn’t have the same excitement and passion when I talked about school or my long-term career goals. So I decided to take a step back from school and outside academic involvement and allowed myself time to grow as a person.”
During that break, Winzenz started doing some modeling with Caryn International and quickly realized she had a deep-seated love for it.
Winzenz went to New York to study under renowned model Coco Rocha and will be returning after graduation to intern with Rocha. She was also invited to attend the International Model and Talent Convention in Chicago. She will be attending the European Model Showcase in Paris this May.
This event is a way for Winzenz to raise money for her trip to Europe and to cultivate her newfound passion for the fashion industry.
“When Emily started getting really passionate about her modeling, I was all for it, I wanted to help see her succeed,” Beuning said. “We’ve just been kind of running with this idea of this fashion show. I remember the first conversation we had about it. We were kind of joking, but it’s really turned into a really really cool thing.”
The Our Season to Bloom event will showcase Midwest Gowns, a Minnesota-based boutique that offers couture gowns for rent or purchase. Midwest Gowns owner and designer, Kiana Kelii, will be showcasing 12 dresses from her new collection, two dresses from her collection that haven’t been released, and a special finale gown created specifically for this event. All gowns will be available for purchase at the event.
The event will also showcase several different small business vendors ranging from jewelry to baked goods to monogrammed gifts, and even chapsticks from Sunbow Farms, a local Eau Claire farm.
“The event has grown and grown and grown,” Winzenz said. “As we have added more creatives to the event, it’s really started to morph into this collection of individuals who are from a variety of different creative outlets, like photographers, makeup artists, videographers, and a bunch of small businesses.”
Despite the hardships of being full-time students with part-time jobs organizing this event, both Winzenz and Beuning agree that they would love to plan another event like this one and that event planning may be in both of their futures.
To learn more and buy tickets, you can go to sites.google.com.
