Extravaganza in black

With an expanded event space and a larger event, the third Black Gown Gala is coming back with a bang.

The fashion show, hosted by the Excelsior-Lake Minnetonka Chamber of Commerce, has become an annual spring event in the South Lake Minnetonka area, drawing in community members for a night of local fashion and entertainment. Some of this year’s entertainment includes a performance by the Minnetonka High School Quartet and a live performance by chamber member Creo Dance Conservatory.

“The biggest goal for this year is to really elevate and highlight the event,” said Carolynne Telford, event manager for the chamber. “This will be the third time hosting it, so we’re really starting to want to elevate the event overall. We have a higher capacity and we already have more attendees coming than we have in the other years.”

Telford said now that the gala is established, the chamber is focused on drawing in attendees.

“It’s such a great opportunity to highlight our variety of different chamber members. That’s really the main mission of this event, is to highlight and support chamber members in a unique way,” she said.

This year’s models include co-owner of Gary’s First Class Car Care, Gary Ringate; Fire Marshal Kellie Murphy-Ringate; South Lake Minnetonka Police Chief Brian Tholen; Haley Mills; co-owner of Bean’s Greenwood Marina, Angie Bean; Niki Cohen; Excelsior City Manager Kristi Luger; Patty and Emily Gilk, from Jes Naturals CBD Wellness; Sandra Mahoney; founder and publisher of TONKA Living, Erica Bergmann; Sharon Herron; and former Deephaven mayor, Melissa McNeill.

“We’re wanting to bring community members in to see the fashion that chamber members are bringing, and to create a bigger comradery of the ‘shop local’ mindset, in totality,” Telford. “Most of the people who are attending are friends of the models, and all of the models are community members who are vibrant in the area. That’s kind of how we try to get more community people involved in the event.”

Participating businesses providing apparel and accessories include Brightwater Clothing, ClubHouse 366, Spirit Gear MN, aloom Consignment, GRAY Home + Lifestyle, Martin’s and SIX. Model makeup and services are provided by Jett Beauty.

Fittings for models have begun this week, as many businesses have awaited the arrival of their summer fashion lines.

“Everything is focused around the new summer outfits that they have,” Telford said. “Most everything that models are modeling should be in store by the time models are modeling and will be in store until fall fashion comes in. The goal is to get through the shopping season of summer.”

Something the event manages to do every year, much like the other chamber events hosted in the Excelsior and Lake Minnetonka area, is bring together community members to support local businesses. While this event is smaller scale and more intimate, it still totes a similar end result.

“We’re hoping community members coming out will come to all of our other big events as well,” Telford said.

Some of those other larger events include Art on the Lake, which will be June 8-9 this year, and Apple Days weekend, Sept. 20-22.

Another fun portion of the Black Gown Gala is its silent auction, which aims to raise $2,500 for the chamber. This year’s silent auction has around 105 items, ranging from smaller items like chamber business gift cards or gift certificates to an exclusive family portrait opportunity tied to a luxury hotel stay in Miami or New York.

For more information about the Black Gown Gala or to participate in the silent auction, visit 32auctions.com/blackgowngala24.