New York City real estate brokers are used to pounding the city streets in search of their latest deal, but today two of Manhattan’s best-known dealmakers strutted their stuff in a more official capacity.
Oren Alexander of Prudential Douglas Elliman and Nestseekers’ Ryan Serhant, star of “Million Dollar Listing New York,” took to the catwalk as part of Nolcha Fashion Week, a showcase event for independent designers that runs alongside the Mercedes–Benz Fashion Week. Designs by the emerging British designers Pretty Green, Firetrap, Bolongaro Trevor and Richard Smith Prêt à Porter were featured in the fashion show.
The show took place this morning at Pier 59. In his first appearance on the catwalk, Serhant wore a lightweight coat by Pretty Green, the new label spearheaded by former Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher. Serhant and Alexander later donned checkered suits by Richard Smith Prêt à Porter.
Some of New York’s trendiest businessmen joined the pair for the Smith portion of the show. Investor and entrepreneur Sergio Fernandez de Cordova, Jezebel owner Henry Stimler and Peter Shankman, founder of Help a Reporter Out, a website designed to help reporters find expert sources on any topic, also walked the runway. Serhant said Nolcha CEO Kerry Bannigan had asked him to participate in the runway show.
Alexander said he’d chosen to take part in the show because fashion is a big part of the job of any real estate agent. “I have to sell a lifestyle everyday and I thought it would be fun to get an inside look into the industry,” he said. “Plus I got a free suit out of it.”
Serahant agreed: “I wear suits all day every day,” he said, “so why not wear them on a runway?”