Photo by Mark Davis
Paris. Milan. New York. London…Albany? If Mell T. Meus has anything to do with it (and, as it happens, he most certainly does), the Capital Region may just become the next fashion capital of the world.
A Hudson native with a creative streak, Meus found his way into the world of fashion, oddly enough, through real estate. “I got into real estate and had to figure out a way to separate myself and market myself in an industry that was very diluted with lenders,” he says. “So, I started doing photo shoots and different wonky things that you wouldn’t normally see a lender doing on social media to make myself stand out.”
Meus’ posts caught the attention of a local designer, who asked him if he would model in an upcoming fashion show. He did, and loved it. He started modeling in shows in Syracuse, Rochester, Philadelphia—even at New York Fashion Week—all the while trying to sell houses to the people he’d meet along the way. That experience led him to sit on a few fashion show fundraising committees back in the Capital Region, including Rock Your Style, a charity show that at the time raised money for Trinity Alliance of the Capital Region.
“I found that what we were lacking here were serious, high-end fashion shows,” he says of the experience. “Because the fundraiser shows were more for community members…It wasn’t like you could build a résumé here. That’s where iCreate started. I wanted to start doing events here, but serious fashion shows. I bring in real models, bring in designers that I’ve met—and here I am.”
In the last seven years, iCreate has put on 13 shows, some of which were elevated fundraising shows—such as the Forever Young Fashion Show to benefit Greater Hudson Promise Neighborhood and Shred the Runway, which raises money for the SHRED Foundation—and some of which are high-end, for-profit endeavors, like this past June’s Sweat N’ Style, a fitness-themed fashion show sponsored by MVP Health Care that saw local fitness influencers walk the runway alongside professional models at Schenectady’s Frog Alley. After selling out 450 tickets to the first annual Sweat N’ Style in 2024, Meus team, which includes “iCreate Productions’ first lady and emcee” Coco Trotter, opted to move the 2025 show to the summer so they could open up the patio and increase capacity.
“For Sweat N’ Style to not be attached to a charity and to get businesses like Dick’s House of Sport and MVP supporting the event—for a fashion show—for me it’s like, ‘Holy crap, I’m doing it,’” Meus says. “That money is going to pay the makeup artist; it’s going to pay the models, the designers. It’s like, it’s happening. It’s working. And that’s a great feeling.”
In addition to the four annual shows iCreate now produces locally, Meus (who’s a bank manager by day) also finds time for work outside the Capital Region. And we mean way outside: “Mo Rabiu from European Tailoring and So’Radical came to Sweat N’ Style last year, and she was like, ‘I’ve never seen something like this in the Capital Region—
I’ve never seen a show that was a legitimate fashion show,’” Meus says. “And she asked me to produce her show at Paris Fashion Week. At first I was like, ‘Yeah, OK.’ But nine months later, there I am in Paris producing a show.” This year, the duo is planning a show for London Fashion Week in September.
While Meus plans to continue seeking out opportunities in the fashion world outside of the Capital Region, his heart is here, and he’s committed to growing the local scene so that, maybe, years down the line, local models and designers don’t have to go elsewhere to launch a successful career in the fashion industry—they can make a name for themselves right in their own hometown. The presence of local creative talent isn’t the issue, Meus says. Rather, it’s a matter of connecting creatives with one another to form a cohesive community of individuals who are working toward the common goal of elevating the fashion industry in the Capital Region.
Admittedly, Albany is likely a long way out from becoming the next Milan. But we could be closer than you’d think to hosting the first-ever Albany Fashion Week.
“Maybe it’d be little pop-up events at museums or restaurants throughout the week, and then, boom, the final iCreate show on Saturday,” Meus says. “I feel like that’s so realistic. We have enough creatives here to make it happen.”
When Meus talks—specifically about fashion and community-building—his passion is palpable. But why has this 31-year-old, who now works as a banker, made it his mission to bring high fashion to little old upstate New York? His answer is threefold: 1. Because he loves the creative process of turning an event into an experience, 2. Because he wants to give local creatives the platform he wished he had when he first got into the world of fashion, and 3. Because a full-time career working for himself in production will give him the flexibility to spend more time with his now-3-year-old daughter.
“I remember when she was a baby, I was planning a Juneteenth show and I had her in the little carrier just walking around, in meetings, calling the shots,” he says. “It was just like, ‘Wow, this is what I want.’”
