Color Me Asheville by Goodwill Fashion Show Takes Place April 17

A limited number of tickets are still available for Color Me Asheville by Goodwill, the annual reconstructed fashion show presented by Goodwill Industries of Northwest North Carolina.

The 10th Annual Color Me Asheville by Goodwill show will be held on Friday, April 17, at the Orange Peel. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the show begins at 7 p.m. All ticket proceeds will benefit Bounty & Soul, a nonprofit food bank based in Black Mountain. Tickets can be purchased through the Orange Peel box office.

This year’s show includes collections by seven local fashion designer teams. Each team received $200 to shop for materials at Goodwill, which they deconstruct and rebuild into a five-piece collection. Designers select a color on which to base their collections. In 2026, Goodwill celebrates not only the tenth edition of Color Me Asheville, but also the 100th anniversary of its founding in 1926. For this year’s show, design teams selected both a color and a decade from 1926 to the present to help inspire their collections. The winning design team, selected by audience vote, will receive $500.

The six design teams competing for the audience prize are:

Rosie Baker – Yellow/1950s
Rosie Baker has spent over half their life designing and building clothing. They had an early fascination with the history of fashion fostered by regular visits to local theatre and opera in their hometown of Bloomington, Ind., and later by visits to historical reenactments and Renaissance Faires. They were inspired to create clothing that would actually fit and flatter their body while expressing their personality. After earning a degree in costume design, Rosie went on to create the Indiana Historical Costume Society. Rosie moved to Asheville almost three years ago to be closer to family. They recently were diagnosed with a connective tissue disorder called Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, but it hasn’t slowed their creativity or love of fashion history.

Corium – Brown/1970s
Amelia Hamilton (Corium) is a 20-year seamstress and leather worker who creates with sustainable materials, using almost exclusively upcycled vintage natural fibers and furniture factory scrap leather. Her goal is to bring back to life the quality fabrics that were the standard before fast fashion took over, while also keeping these valuable textiles from going to the landfill. Her aesthetic is somehow both primal ancient and futuristic fantasy, with pieces functioning as wearable art. Amelia creates under the brand name “Corium,” an antiquated Latin word that in the 1600s meant “shell, protective covering, or armor.” She lives in the mountains outside of Asheville in the home she grew up in with her two lovely daughters, her husband, 20 chickens, and several four-legged (and spoiled) friends.

Michelle MacFarlane – Red/1960s
Michelle MacFarlane is a lifelong sewist whose passion began in childhood, learning alongside her grandmother. Michelle’s professional journey first took her into design engineering, where she worked on the Atlas and Titan missile programs in Cape Canaveral, Fla., and later contributed to aircraft projects in Seattle. She returned to her creative roots after relocating to North Carolina with her family. For seven years, Michelle was the costume mistress for Raleigh City Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker, and later continued to sew for her son’s drum corps. She recently returned to specializing in custom bridal and formal wear, painting, and drawing. Since moving to Asheville in 2022, Michelle has embraced new creative opportunities and is thrilled to be selected as a contestant for Color Me Asheville.

The McFabricators – Blue/1940s
The McFabricators are a two-person team including Sandy McDaniel and Kayren McKnight, who first joined forces designing costumes for local community theatre. Sandy is a hair stylist who has found her other happy place in creating theatrical hair and costumes. Kayren is a retired educator who always moonlighted in local theatre costuming but now makes art (and sometimes puts it on people) and repairs sewing machines and clothing. The McFabricators are returning to Color Me Asheville for the third time, competing in 2024 and showing a collection in last year’s special benefit event.

Mackenzie Palermo – Green/1980s
Mackenzie is a Charlotte, N.C.-raised designer whose creative journey began at age 8 when her grandmother first taught her how to sew, instilling a lifelong love of craftsmanship and making things by hand. Today, Mackenzie is a professional Senior 3D Designer creating immersive, brand-driven environments across retail, experiential, and installation-based projects. She co-owns a clothing brand dedicated to sustainability, natural materials, and responsible manufacturing. Her approach to fashion reflects a belief that garments should be made with care for both the people who wear them and the planet that provides their materials. When she’s not designing or sewing, Mackenzie enjoys hiking and camping with her husband and their dog, Mud. The natural world continues to inspire her work, reinforcing her commitment to thoughtful design, sustainability, and creating things that bring people happiness.

The Three Graces – Purple/1920s
The Three Graces is a collaborative design guild composed of Charlotte Murphy, Susan Sertain, and Hannah Black. As a team, they respect and accentuate each other’s contributions when they work, highlighting the art. Their creative process happens when disparate techniques, materials, and aspects come together. Each member brings their particular skills, as they layer different materials and ideas onto an armature of inspiration. Creating deeply structured garment art with an eye towards detail, The Graces play like children with the skills of professional artists. They have been designing together since 2019, winning best in category at the ACT Costume Drama show that year. The Graces have participated in Color Me Asheville several times, winning first prize in 2022.

A highlight of this year’s show will be the return of Sheila Thibodeaux, a well-known local designer whose Dolly Parton-inspired 2024 Color Me Asheville collection won both first prize and the audience award. As part of the Sugar Britches team (2022) she won the Audience Choice Award and assisted with Rosanne Capone’s Audience Choice Award-winning collection (2023). Her three-piece “Shelter from the Storm” collection closed last year’s special Color Me Asheville benefit event.

 

Ticket Information

Tickets for Color Me Asheville are only available through the Orange Peel box office. Visit www.ColorMeAsheville.org for tickets and more information. Seated tickets are $30 and standing tickets are $25. In addition, livestreaming tickets will be available for $10. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the show begins at 7 p.m.

In addition to ticket proceeds, people can donate to Bounty & Soul through the website in advance or on-site at the show. “Bounty & Soul brings an incredible spark to our community, and we’re thrilled to champion their work this year,” said Lance Crawford, Goodwill’s District Director of Workforce Development. “Their fresh‑food distributions and whole‑person wellness programs create real, immediate impact; and that energy aligns perfectly with the spirit of Color Me Asheville. Supporting them means fueling a healthier, stronger community for everyone.”