Boston Fashion Week kickoff features arts academy

A Maven’s World’s Anna Foster and the Boston Arts Academy Foundation’s Denella Clark joined Boston Herald Radio’s “The Rundown” program with Zuri Berry Friday to talk about Boston Fashion Week, which begins Sept. 30 and will feature an appearance from “Power” star Naturi Naughton.

Q: You’ve been involved with Boston Fashion Week for some time. Can you give us a sense of what your role has been over the course of the years?

Anna: So Boston Fashion Week started back in the ’90s and it’s an event showcasing the arts and fashion in Boston and its a big calendar. In 2011 we started producing and organizing events. We usually do what we call a kickoff for the first night of Boston Fashion Week but there’s also tons of other events on the calendar. We do it really big for the city of Boston.

Q: Denella, your organization is one of the beneficiaries of this event. Give us a sense of what the Boston Arts Academy Foundation does on a regular basis and how you contribute to our civic life in this region.

Denella: We are super excited to have been selected by Anna and A Maven’s World. Boston Arts Academy is Boston’s only visual public performing arts high school. So think “Fame.”

We are celebrating our 20th year . ... Ninety-four percent of our students graduate from high school, more than 20 percent above the average rate, and 97 percent of our students go on to college.

We have many notable alumni, including Diane Guerrero. Think music, actors, film, theater, instrumentals. And this year, for the first time in 20 years, we’ve expanded our curriculum to include fashion design and technology.

So when Anna came to us we thought that this would be a perfect opportunity for Boston’s only performing arts high school to partner up with A Maven’s World and Boston Fashion Week. So we’re really, really excited. In fact, one of our students at Boston Arts Academy, her mother is one of the featured designers in the fashion show.

Q: So, with this new program, how are you guys taking part in this year’s fashion week?

Denella: Some of our students are going to perform during the VIP musical and dance and then we’re going to kick the show off on the runway with a vocalist. Q: Vocalist? Anna: Not me. It will be one of the students. But it’s a packed night. It’s a highenergy packed night of just a lot of amazing performers, designers. It’s going to be a fabulous event.