BY JULIA RAPPAPORT

It may not quite measure up to Fashion Week in New York city, but Saturday evening will find a back alley of Main street Vineyard Haven temporarily transformed into a catwalk complete with leggy models, elegant couture and dazzling jewelry. Outside Che’s Lounge — the coffee shop known for good eats, an excellent cup of joe and a rockin’ weekend music scene — an outdoor fashion show will begin at 5 p.m. and the proceeds will go to benefit local musicians.

Bella will perform live samba and bossa nova as models strut their stuff down the runway, clad in dresses made by Island seamstress Chrysal Parrot whose store, L’Atelier, is above the coffeeshop and features locally-sewn duds and intimate apparel. Jewelry from Netti Kent will complete the ensembles.

Admission to the show is $10 and afterwards, the dresses will be auctioned off. Twenty per cent of the proceeds will go towards getting a Vineyard musician into an Island recording studio. The funds will allow the musician (Adam Howell is the first in what organizers hope will grow to be a long lineup) to manufacture and release a compact disc which will be sold in local music shops.

“It’s like we’re starting a little bit of a record company from the coffee shop,” said organizer Colin Ruel. Money from CD sales will allow a second musician to follow in Mr. Howell’s footsteps. “The idea is to keep that thing self-perpetuating,” said P.J. Woodford, co-owner of the coffeeshop.

Demimonde Couture, a fashion show and auction, begins at 5 p.m. at Che’s Lounge on Main street Vineyard Haven. Admission is $10. For details, call 508-693-8555.