Help get Teddy to New York Fashion Week

Hi, my name is Teddy McRitchie, and I am a 20-year-old emerging designer based on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland. I am both a wearable artist and a fashion designer.

I have had my designs shown all over Queensland, Sydney, Perth, northern Tasmania and Bali-Indonesia. I've won many awards for my designs including 2019 Student Award Australian Wearable Art Festival, 2019 Youth Award Wearable Art Mandurah, 2021 AATFA Senior student Designer of the Year, 2022 Headpiece Award Australian Wearable Art Festival, 2023 Most Outstanding Work Immanuel Arts Festival.

Last year, I released a ready-to-wear collection at Queensland's largest and most prestigious fashion event, Brisbane Fashion Festival. My collection (shown above), recieved overwhelming support and the collection was later shown in Zonta Noosa Runway, Brisbane Fashion Month, Noosa Biosphere Melbourne Cup Runway, Stefan Hair Show, Huxnboss Runway, Mind Your Fashion Winter Runway, Gold Coast Fashion Week, SIP n SHOOT Runway and Sunshine Coast High Tea & Fashion Show. Garments from the collection were also published in American, Canadian and French magazines. I have big dreams of taking my designs international.

I recently became involved with Mind Your Fashion, a Not-for Profit Brisbane organization designed to raise awareness and support those who work in the fashion and creative industries and experience mental

health issues. Founded by Jude Kingston, her professional career spans close to 30 years working in the Australian and international fashion retail landscape, starting out as a retail fashion buyer and building a reputation as a global fashion expert bringing her industry knowledge, insights and expertise to clients, industry advisory boards and mentoring designers. Mind Your Fashion has partnered with New York City event Times Square Fashion Week, offering the incredible oppurtunity for Australian designers and models to be showcased in New York Fashion Week. I applied for a Regional Arts Development Fund grant of $7,000 through Noosa Council to cover the high designer fee of being involved in such a world-renowned fashion week. Incredibly, I recieved an email that my application was successful and my collection will be shown in NYFW!

So far, 3 Australian designers including myself have said yes to be going to New York. Jude Kingston has organised in-kind opportunities for the designers, September 10th Press/Influencer's Mix + Mingle Networking Event at a NYC Hotel, September 11th NYC Tour on Double Decker Bus, and September 12th WRAP UP Party at a NYC Hotel with only Press + Designers. She will also organise separate meetings with buyers, sellers, wholesalers and retailers; she also said that this may lead to opportunities in Milan, Italy. Times Square Fashion Week presented by DCG Media Group in conjunction with the Times Square Alliance and Jean Schafiroff, will be held on September 12th in the middle of Times Square, NYC. Event guests include fashion insiders, including buyers, retailers, members of the press, celebrities, models, and special guests will make their way through the show. My collection of unique designs will be shown at this very runway event and Getty Images is the event photographer. Times Square Fashion Week is dedicated to offering Australian Designers the best possible venue and options to present my collection along with unsurpassed marketing platforms to help me tell my brands story, and have it reach my desired audience. 30 minute digital steaming program will be available through Times Square Digital Billboards and Global Bloggerazzi Team & Global Fashion Channel, to have a global audience reach of over 10 million people! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I cannot miss!

I need your help, I would really appreciate it from the bottom of my heart if I could recieve donations to cover flight costs from Brisbane Airport to Vancouver Airport, to Newark Airport. On the way back from JFK Airport, to Auckland Airport, and then back to Brisbane Airport. As New York Fashion Week is only 2 months away in September, time is of the essence, and I would really appreciate donations no matter how big or small.

Upon having several financial difficulties this year including a car accident and the breaking down later, I have been really needing this incredible opportunity of New York which could absolutely change my life. I am currently a part of The Refinery 5.0 cohort, a creative incubator program that supports independent artists and creative industry practitioners to establish and grow viable and sustainable businesses, which is 2 days a week and I work the other 4 or 5 days a week at my Hospitality job to make my dreams happen. I am also one of 40 finalists in the Australian Wearable Art Festival 2023 among designers from all over Australia, United States, Poland and Germany. I am thrilled that my humble beginnings of making wearable art pieces for the Norfolk Island Wearable Arts, has now turned into my designs being shown on world stages.

Thank you so much for reading and listening to my story. I really appreciate your support.