Border Fashion Week is the world’s only annual binational fashion show on the U.S Mexico border.
master/object/2026/10/12/plusbutton/attach1a.xmlThe three-day event, held from Oct.1-3, featured an art exhibit, a fashion show in Sonora and a runway on either side of the border.
Co-founder Domingo Toledo says he created the event 14 years ago in part to honor his mother, a breast cancer survivor, and to raise awareness of the disease.
Portions of the ticket proceeds go to a local breast cancer awareness organization called Agrupación George Papanicolaou.
“We made history here in Nogales,” Toledo said.
A native of Nogales, Toledo worked in the fashion industry in New York City. Experiencing the city’s famed Fashion Week, he was inspired to bring the idea to his hometown.
This year, eight designers constructed different outfits. The idea, Toledo says, is to strip down the stereotypical visions of the border.
“I want to change the perspective that the world has about the border,” he said. “I want to transform this symbol of division into a symbol of unity.”
The experience was particularly meaningful for sisters Melissa and Giselle Villegas.
The siblings, who perform as a singing duo under the name Mel & Giss, are from Guaymas, Mexico, and had attended Border fashion week in the past. This year, they sang two original songs at the event – while standing on opposite sides of the border wall.
“As a duet carrying out this dynamic—singing, with one person on one side of the border and the other on the other—it felt almost magical to us,” Melissa said.
Events like this get them one step closer to growing a community at the border.
“It’s very different from life on the border. It’s really defined by that drive—people setting out to get ahead and fight for their dreams,” Giselle added. “The best part is that beautiful communities form where everyone supports one another so that we can all achieve our dreams.”
