Local ‘Project Runway’ contestant brings runway to Dayton


Where Althea Harper will be this weekend

Stitching Post: 6 p.m. today, Oct. 2, 101 E. Alex-Bell Road, Cross Pointe Center, Centerville. Tickets are free and limited to 500; call (937) 436-9200 or stop by.

JennaClaire Handbag Studio: 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 3, 4382 Juniper Way, The Greene, Beavercreek. Tickets free and limited to 35 on first-come, first-served basis starting at 8 a.m. at the studio.

Color of Energy Gallery: 2 p.m. Saturday, 16 Brown St., Oregon Arts District

“Project Runway” contestant Althea Harper’s dance card will be full when she comes to town this weekend.

First, the Oakwood native will give a talk as part of the Stitching Post’s grand opening celebration 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 2, at 101 E. Alex Bell Road, Cross Pointe Center, Centerville.

On Saturday, the 25-year-old contestant on Lifetime’s designer reality show will help kick off Breast Cancer Awareness Month at JennaClaire Handbag Studio, 4382 Juniper Way, The Greene, Beavercreek, with a discussion at 10 a.m.

A bag design by Harper will be raffled during the month to raise funds for breast cancer as part of the shop’s “Design for a Cure” to benefit Women’s Wellness Fund’s support of breast cancer awareness.

Then, Harper and her sketches will swing by the Color of Energy Gallery, 16 Brown St. in the Oregon Arts District, for a 2 p.m. presentation called “Live from Project Runway: Althea Harper.”

Harper works for designer Tory Burch, and had a runway show of her collection Assimilation during New York’s Fashion Week.

And the University of Cincinnati’s School of Design graduate is grateful for the Miami Valley.

“All the support I’ve gotten has really been amazing,” she said. “It makes me feel proud to be from Dayton.”

About the Author