Arrived by Train, Left Wanting More
By Tyshca Nicole
On Central served Downtown Phoenix its most stylish evening of the season — and the city answered in kind.
Celeste Tauilo, 2025 Featured Model of the Year.
There is a moment at every great fashion event when the room shifts, when you stop being a spectator and start being a witness. At On Central, presented by House of Patterns in the heart of Downtown Phoenix, that moment arrived before the first look even hit the runway.
The models came in on a train.
The city's own light rail became the opening act, delivering the House of Patterns executive team and their talent directly into CityScape, the downtown entertainment hub anchored along Central Avenue, as the evening sky settled into that particular shade of blue that belongs only to Phoenix nights. It was theatrical without being theatrical. Effortless in the way that only deeply considered things can be.
The Setting: CityScape After Dark
CityScape is a place Phoenicians know for its rooftop bars and late-night dining, its ability to turn a weeknight into something worth dressing for. On this evening, it became a runway in the truest sense — a long, lit corridor of fashion moving through a city that was very much awake and very much paying attention.
The outdoor setting worked in every direction. The ambient energy of the city became part of the production. The crowd, which arrived styled and ready, blurred the line between audience and editorial — you were never quite sure if the most interesting looks were on the runway or moving through it.
Classic Reclaim: Where Sustainability Meets Craft
Among the designers featured, Classic Reclaim brought a considered, artisan perspective to the evening. Founded by Amanda Jacobs, a WVU-trained textile expert and former Saks Fifth Avenue stylist who has spent over 15 years in Arizona, the brand is built on the practice of upcycling. Every piece begins as something else: a discarded garment, a forgotten fabric, a material given a second life through skilled reconstruction.
On a runway like On Central, that philosophy lands differently. Against the backdrop of a living, breathing city, there is something resonant about fashion that refuses to waste, that insists on finding beauty in what others have overlooked. Classic Reclaim did not just show clothes. It showed a point of view.
Hunnii Belishments: Accessories as Attitude
If Classic Reclaim is the thoughtful edit, Hunnii Belishments is the exclamation point. This accessories label operates on a philosophy that is as direct as it is delightful: bold, glam, unapologetically extra. The brand's pieces are not accents, they are the statement. Jewelry and accessories designed with the understanding that personality is a style choice, and that diversity is not a trend but a foundation.
On a night that celebrated Phoenix's creative range, Hunnii Belishments reminded the room that fashion's most personal expression often lives in the details, the earring that shifts an entire outfit, the layered piece that makes a look unmistakably yours.
Tricee Thomas and the Vision Behind the Show
On Central does not exist without Tricee Thomas. A Fashion Institute of Technology graduate with more than 30 years in the industry, spanning roles as wardrobe stylist, fashion director, and creative director, Thomas built this event through The Garment League, the nonprofit organization she founded after relocating to Downtown Phoenix. Her mission has always been to create access: to fashion education, to runway experience, to the kind of industry exposure that changes trajectories.
The result is a show that carries real weight. On Central is not a showcase in the traditional sense, it is proof of concept. Proof that Phoenix can hold a fashion moment of genuine quality. Proof that local designers belong in the conversation. And proof that when you build something with community at the center, the community shows up dressed for the occasion.
Tricee Thomas, founder of House of Patterns and On Central Fashion Show
The Verdict
On Central was intimate and alive, curated and celebratory, local and sophisticated all at once. It was a fashion evening that understood its city, and used that understanding beautifully. The train entrance will stay with anyone who was there. Not because it was a gimmick, but because it was exactly right: fashion arriving through the city, by way of the city, for the city.
Phoenix has a fashion scene. It stepped off a train on Saturday night and made sure you knew it.
On Central is produced by The Garment League. Follow Classic Reclaim at @classic_reclaim and Hunnii Belishments at @hunnii_belishments. Coffea Flair Fashion covers editorial style and emerging designers.