At this year’s Austin Fashion Week, “Resilience” isn’t just a theme – it’s a declaration. The showcase on Saturday, Nov. 8, at the Domain, will bring together designers, survivors, and advocates to illuminate the strength of those who have endured domestic violence.
Presented in collaboration with Beauty Over Bruises, a local organization founded by hairstylist and advocate Annie Bedford-Cokley, the event will transform the runway into a space of empowerment and awareness.
“Together as a community, let’s break the silence to stop domestic violence,” Bedford-Cokley says, explaining that her nonprofit began in her Austin salon as a small event meant to “help people focus more on the beauty of who they are over the bruises or scars left behind.”
What began as a grassroots gathering has evolved into a movement uniting art, music, poetry, and fashion in the service of healing.
The collaborative showcase will feature more than 20 survivor models alongside professionals, each wearing garments with touches of purple, the official color of domestic violence awareness.
“Designers have to include purple in every look,” says Matt Swinney, CEO of Austin Fashion Week. “We wanted survivor models to walk the runway, but it’s tricky because not everyone wants to tell their story. We mixed survivors with professionals, so it wasn’t obvious who was who. Modeling can be empowering, especially for someone who’s felt powerless … It’s about taking back that moment of control.”
More than 70 survivors applied within days to participate in the program. For Swinney, the outpouring revealed both the pervasiveness of domestic violence and the power of collective expression.
“I think that word ’empowerment’ means more here,” he says. “These women have had to pick themselves back up, and the runway gives them a moment to shine.”
Designer Cleva Kah, founder of The House of eMaGi™, built his collection around that concept.
“Fashion can help your mental health,” he says. “If you’re not feeling well but you look good, your day feels better.”
His line weaves purple into every piece through fabrics, accents, and masks symbolizing both courage and hidden silence.
“At the finale, models will remove their masks to reveal themselves,” Kah says. “It represents that triumphant moment when survivors reclaim their identity. You’re brand new now… You’ve blossomed.”
From another artistic angle, Anastasia Shimanskaya, the designer behind the Arsuri line, created her Alice in Wonderland-inspired collection to depict a woman’s journey through confusion toward self-liberation.
“Lilac is the main color,” she says. “It symbolizes transformation, tenderness, and inner strength. I wanted to show that a woman who has survived violence can become her own heroine.”
Her silhouettes will pair heavy gabardine with light chiffon, balancing protection and vulnerability – “a visual metaphor,” she says, “for moving from silence to voice, from concealment to visibility, from wound to renewal.”
The Resilience showcase carries a sobering context. According to the Texas Council on Family Violence, 161 Texans were victims of family violence fatalities in 2024.
In 2023, over 3,500 arrests for family violence were made in Austin, with 18 of Austin’s 74 homicides being domestic violence-related. The Travis County District Attorney’s Office reported providing services to over 3,000 family violence cases, and the Travis County Sheriff’s Office assisted 1,600 victims.
That reality highlights why Bedford-Cokley continues to expand her mission.
“I’ve had women tell me they finally felt beautiful and seen,” she says. “Sometimes we think we’re alone, but events like this remind us that we’re not. Healing starts when people feel safe enough to be visible.”
The showcase proves what Swinney has long believed: Fashion can heal, empower, and unite people.
“When every person in the audience is clapping for you, and you know you’ve taken control of that moment – that’s power,” he says. “Fashion has the ability to tell stories, to open conversations that words alone can’t.”
Austin Fashion Week takes place Nov. 6-8 at the Domain.