Long before they were producing Fashion Weeks across major cities, Brady and Krissy King were simply two college students sitting beside each other in a trigonometry class. They dated briefly, but the relationship never found its footing. Krissy stood Brady up. Brady eventually returned the favor. Life pulled them in different directions, and what seemed like a short chapter quietly came to an end.
By Luc Durant
Photo Courtesy of: @krissyKstudios
Then, about a year later, chance brought them together again.
That unexpected reunion became the beginning of both a lifelong partnership and a business that would eventually grow into The Bureau Fashion Week, an independent fashion platform producing events across New York, Los Angeles, Miami, and Paris. While many companies begin with a business plan, the Kings say theirs began with a shared belief that Fashion Week could become more inclusive, more immersive, and more meaningful for everyone involved.
Neither founder followed a conventional path into fashion. Krissy grew up in a small South Carolina town with just one traffic light, never imagining she would one day help produce runway events around the world. Her first real introduction to the industry came as a photographer working behind the scenes during New York Fashion Week, where she witnessed both the creativity of designers and the barriers that kept much of the experience reserved for industry insiders.
Watching from a different perspective, Brady saw something else. Beyond the runway, he recognized opportunities to improve production, marketing, technology, and the overall guest experience. Together, they began asking a simple question: Why couldn’t Fashion Week be both prestigious and accessible?
That idea became the foundation of The Bureau Fashion Week.
Building the company, however, was far less glamorous than the finished productions audiences would eventually see. The Kings were growing a business while raising a young family, often balancing runway schedules with nap times and production meetings with bedtime routines. They remember answering emails while caring for newborns, traveling with diaper bags alongside garment racks, and solving last-minute event challenges while juggling the demands of parenthood.
“There were plenty of tears, sleepless nights, setbacks, disappointments, and prayers,” they recall. “Whenever things became overwhelming, we’d remind ourselves, ‘If it were easy, everyone would do it.'”
Those experiences shaped the company just as much as any successful event.
Today, The Bureau remains a family-owned business in every sense. Their three children—now five, six, and nine years old—travel with them to Fashion Weeks around the world. Backstage has become part of their childhood. They have watched rehearsals instead of cartoons, met designers from across the globe, and learned that success is often built through persistence rather than perfection. Their oldest son, Cru, walked his first runway at just eighteen months old, an experience the family now recalls as one of many milestones shared together.
That family dynamic also influences how the company operates. Brady oversees technology, marketing, business development, and long-term strategy, constantly looking for ways to improve systems and anticipate where the industry is headed. Krissy leads operations, designer relations, staffing, partnerships, model casting, and guest experience, believing that every person involved in an event—from internationally recognized designers to the crew working behind the scenes—deserves to feel equally valued.
“My focus is making sure every single person feels important,” she says. Her leadership philosophy is simple: “Elevation is the Expectation.” Rather than measuring success solely by attendance or media coverage, she hopes designers leave feeling supported, sponsors feel appreciated, and guests walk away inspired by the experience.
Looking ahead, the Kings see The Bureau evolving beyond runway production. Their vision includes expanding internationally while developing educational initiatives such as The Bureau Fashion Summit, creating opportunities for designers, models, and industry professionals to learn, collaborate, and grow together. Yet even as the company enters its next chapter, they say the mission remains deeply personal.
People often see the lights, the music, and the glamour of Fashion Week. What they rarely see are early mornings in airports, children coloring backstage, or production schedules spread across hotel rooms after fourteen-hour workdays. For Brady and Krissy King, those quieter moments represent the real story behind The Bureau Fashion Week. The runways may define the brand, but family has always defined the business.