It weirdly overlaps our mid-week issue dates, so was mentioned in the issue that's about to sail into the sunset, but Portland Fashion Week is taking over at "the tents" in Pioneer Square this evening.

There are a lot of other regularly occurring fashion events in the city, and each of them has different criteria. This iteration of PFW—which is really only two years old—seems to be positioning itself as being guided by a spirit of inclusivity, giving young and independent designers a platform, show experience, and exposure. The nice thing about it is that it bounces a lot of new names into the spotlight and gives those people an important opportunity. The disadvantage is that it's not as tightly curated as some would like... inclusivity, after all, not exactly the guiding principle of fashion. PFW is an older name but a new crew, and their strategy may well evolve as time goes on, but for now I'm getting a lot of sympathetic, fostering "support" vibes, not declarations that their designers are the most high-profile or advanced in their careers.

Keeping that in mind, tonight's theme is ready-to-wear, and includes only a few designers I'm familiar with. Brady Lange is one of them, and always delivers a fresh, fun vibe. After last year's showing, in which he brought the house down with moto jackets and matching trousers in cat-lady upholstery fabric, this time he's saving his new apparel line for a yet-to-be-announced separate show later this fall. Instead he's designed a line of day-of-the-week undies for both men and women, which sounds one-note, but is also probably going to be adorable. Other ones I'm watching: Jason Calderon's West Daily, the bohemian vibes of Christie Chanthakhoun, plus line Copper Union, and (MOD contributor) Katie Guinn.

Though PFW makes a point of keeping prices low for designers, tickets to attend are steep at $55. If you can't swing it, but you're curious about the next few nights of designs, we'll be posting the photos as we have them over on MOD.