Katy Parnello directs Telluride AIDS Benefit Fashion Show
[click "Play" to hear Katy Parnello's conversation with Susan]
Stash Wislocki, the Telluride AIDS Benefit's executive director, is no gusher, but mention the name "Katy Parnello" and breathless superlatives start flying. With good reason.
Katy Parnello is a multi-media event unto herself: co-creator/co-owner of a successful fashion label, dancer/choreographer, and actor. This year Katy adds one more notch to her increasingly heavy belt: she is the 2011 director of the Telluride AIDS Benefit's fashion show. The Sneak Peak is Thursday, March 3, and the gala is Saturday, March 5. (Both shows are sold out and there is a waiting list.)
The fashion label, Onerary (pronounced “honor-ary”), a collaboration between Katy and Danielle DeRoberts, was inspired by the Greek word "Oneraria," which means “in a dreamlike state.” Founded in 2004 right here in Telluride, Onerary is a fair trade clothing line for women that merges forward-thinking design and functionality, striving to blur the lines between work and play. (For an early intro to Onerary, see this 2009 post on Telluride Inside... and Out.)