More Than a Competition: The Beginning of a Collection

Last week, at The Stitch Competition, Anástasi Fashion presented the first five looks from our upcoming Spring Trunk Show collection. We were very excited to be apart of this amazing opportunity. But, while competitions naturally focus on selecting a winner, I left thinking about something very different.

For the first time, this collection stepped onto a runway. The excitement I felt seeing the garments together confirmed what I had hoped from the beginning: a cohesive story built from a single idea that transformed the familiar structure of a men’s shirt into architectural womenswear. One of the judges there, Marsha Doll, recognized exactly that. Her feedback highlighted the collection's cohesion, its relevance for Tampa, and its artistic reinterpretation of a classic garment. As a designer myself, those observations mattered because they reflected the intention behind every piece.

The runway may have lasted only a few minutes, but it marked the beginning of something much larger.

What The Stitch Competition Actually Showed Us

Competitions ask a simple question: Who wins? But as I stood backstage afterward, surrounded by the five looks we’d spent months developing, the question that stayed with me was different: Does this collection hold together as a story?

The answer, finally seeing my designs showcased under the runway lights, was yes.

A single striking piece can win a round. A collection has to do something harder: it has to build and sustain a story across every look. Watching all five looks elegantly move down the runway together was the first real test of whether the idea behind the Anástasi Spring collection could carry that weight. It did.

The Work Continues

These five designs are just the beginning. As we prepare for the Spring Trunk Show, ten more looks are already taking shape, each one building upon the same central idea while pushing it in a new direction. The Stitch gave this collection its first runway and its first opportunity to be evaluated beyond the studio. The feedback from those who understand what makes a collection successful doesn’t end with the final placement; it becomes a tool for refining and shaping the next ten looks.

The competition is over now, but the collection is just getting started.

Follow along as we build toward the Spring Trunk Show—more looks, more process, more stories.