Not your mother’s runway.
Lights. Camera. Action. More than 40 models strut down the runway, dressed head to toe in garments handmade by more than a dozen Appalachian artists. Digital projections turn the space into an immersive experience. The music? A remix of a data center’s hum.
That’s just a taste of what you can expect on Friday, October 23, 2026, at NOISE: An Appalachian Fashion Show from 6 to 10 p.m. downtown, across High Street from The Pathfinder of West Virginia. Buy a ticket and get ready to fashion an outfit inspired by Appalachian handicrafts or the show’s theme: Parasitic Technology.
NOISE is the lovechild of YNST Magazine and 100 Days in Appalachia. It started with a partnership on NOISE, a limited edition zine created for the national Us@250 initiative, which aimed to spark conversations around the United States’ past, present, and future.
NOISE asked Appalachians under 30 years old to respond to prompts such as “What do you think or hope the future looks like?” using a variety of creative mediums. Expressions of technology fatigue and a growing passion for uniquely human art were common, according to Kristen Uppercue, director of programming at the Rural Digital Resilience Project. She describes the zine’s goal as “a cathartic processing of parasitic technology through arts and culture.”
So, why not celebrate the publication of NOISE with an on-theme fashion show featuring dedicated artists?
“What is the antithesis of overindulgence and oversaturation of technology? Celebrating the handmade,” says editor-in-chief at YNST Adam Payne. “So all of these designers are incredible craftspeople who take hours upon hours to create their looks.”
Designers include professional artists from across Appalachia, plus students at WVU’s Fashion Design and Merchandising program. Speaking of the WVU fashion program, expect some exciting things across the street at The Retail Lab in conjunction with the show. The cherry on top: After the runway concludes, you can support Appalachian artists with more than applause and dropped jaws by shopping at the artisan market.
The market is where you’ll be able to buy the NOISE zine and the newest issue of YNST before it hits the shelves. Safe to say that section of High Street will be buzzing with creativity.
This fashion show is an opportunity to put down the technology and get back to the classics: cool artists doing cool things.
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