Annual fashion walk at Molly Yeh’s new restaurant Bernie’s – Grand Forks Herald features local boutiques.

EAST GRAND FORKS – The annual fashion affair featuring hundreds of styles from local boutiques and businesses was held Thursday night at Molly Yeh’s Restaurant Barney’s.

Ann Zimmer, owner of Avant Hair & Skin Care Studio, and Rachael Eder, owner of RH Standard, are both organizers of the event. Zimmer and Ider said the annual fashion walk encourages people to shop locally.

“It’s showing this community that there’s a lot of shopping to do if you go out and walk through the stores because it’s been around since the beginning of the show,” Zimmer said.

This year, 15 local businesses participated and each had 20 models to showcase a variety of styles. 13 of these 15 businesses are owned by women.

Planning begins months in advance and a lot of work goes into the event, though Zimmer said it’s fun to see it all come together for business owners and guests to enjoy.

“We love seeing everyone come together here,” Zimmer said.

This year is the eighth year of the fashion walk. Some of the previous locations where the fashion affair was held were Love Alley, on the top floor of the Corporate Parking Ramp and in Sky’s Fine Dining.

Eric Heilden / Grand Forks Herald

Zimmer and Eider said they were excited to have this year’s event at Bernie’s and to be among the first events held at the newly renovated venue.

In addition to the fashion walk, guests enjoyed food, drinks by Bernie’s and live music by Town & Country.

Each year, a portion of the proceeds from ticket sales go to a local organization or non-profit. This year’s proceeds will benefit Bio Girls, a non-profit organization whose mission is to improve the self-esteem of adolescent girls through self-empowerment and service to others.