A REVIEW OF STRUT : THE FASHIONABLE MOMS SHOW

Last week, the gleaming runways of Mercedes Benz fashion week gave birth to a new fashion concept; a show of ?realistic looks? designed by moms for their time challenged tribe. The brainchild of THE MOMS, high wattage mom bloggers Vera Sweeney and Audrey McClelland, social media agency BIG FUEL and Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, the Director of fashion at Lincoln Center, STRUT: THE FASHIONABLE MOM SHOW was crafted with the premise that moms and a smashing sense of style can live harmoniously in the car pool lane. To this end, the fashions showcased were affordable and attainable. While the traditional catwalk features fashions two seasons ahead, STRUT offered clothing that is in stores right now; a fresh faced version of the mall trend show plugged into a high fashion arena. Minus the haughty, well- heeled editors and retail buyers.  In fact, the show reinforced the power of social media. Influential mom bloggers-not models-walked the runway. The show was live streamed  to Babycenter.com, the number one pregnancy and parenting web destination with a  reach of 10 million moms in the US  and 25 million moms monthly in 22 international markets. Tout.com was on hand to snap and upload 15 second video clips on twitter, facebook and top blogger sites. One sponsor-Clorox-sponsored ?twitterazzi? seating for influential mom bloggers to ?live tweet? from the show. ?All the highly social mom ?models? participating in the show will give us a reach of over 4 million online moms in one day?, explains Audrey McClelland and Vera Sweeney. The result? Gargantuan social media metrics directly targeting moms responsible for the household buying decisionsIn terms of the fashion, there were no 6 foot glamazons teetering on stilettos clad in up- to -there ??city shorts? with sheer tank tops. STRUT models ran the gamut from size 2 to 16, some were pregnant. The looks were super wearable; a marriage of fashion and function for the office, the playground, date and the PTA meeting. The smart use of accessories showed how easy it is to transform a basic garment into a fabulous ensemble. Participating brands included Tory Burch, Tj Maxx, Marshalls, Rebecca Minkoff, Gap, Michael Kors, Macys and Bloomingdales. There were also maternity fashion shown by Ingrid & Isabel, Hatch and Pea in the Pod.