New Hampshire Fashion Designers Make ‘Olympic Sprint’ To Rio
Fabric designer Harry Umen, photographs Hailey Boczar modelling a dress.
EMILY CORWIN / NHPR
For the last few months, Laura McCarthy has been preparing to put a lifetime of training on display before an international audience in Rio de Janeiro—home of this year’s summer Olympics. No, McCarthy is not an athlete. She’s a fashion designer. And today – a collaboration she’s been working on for months will be draped on a Brazilian model, and strutted down a runway in Rio.
It all started when a San Francisco fashion show producer told a Brazilian fashion show producer to check out some colorful dresses made in an unlikely place: New Hampshire. That’s when Laura McCarthy and collaborator, Harry Umen got the invitation to show their new collection on the Teatro Fashion Mall runway in Rio on day four of the summer Olympics.