The Chicago Fashion Incubator

Friday, May 20, 2011

The Driehaus Awards for Fashion Excellence

Tonight is a who’s who of the Chicago fashion scene: the 10th Annual Driehaus Awards for Fashion Excellence celebrates the spectacular talent coming through Chicago’s design woodwork. The evening features a runway show with looks to kill, an awards ceremony highlighting outstanding achievements in design, and a silent auction. The night’s proceeds benefit our very own CFI! We at The Chicago Fashion Incubator are always thankful for just about anything fashion related, but we are extremely honored to be the beneficiary of the Driehaus Design Initiative!

The generosity of the Driehaus Design Initiative have given us the opportunity to develop a Resource Center that will benefit not only our CFI designers, but also all Chicago based designers. Thank you, Mr. Driehaus!

Thanks for the shout out, Refinery29 Chicago !

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

VitaminWater Inspiration by design

Please join VitaminWater and The Chicago Fashion Incubator for a night of inspiration.

May 12th, 2011

6PM VIP reception

7PM design competition

Attendees MUST be 21 years of age.

Space is limited, VitaminWater will distribute final confirmation on May 6th.

RSVP to vitaminwaterchicago2011@gmail.com

Lara Miller

The Chicago Fashion Incubator at Macy's on State Street

Thursday, April 14, 2011

A, B, C to Z

Agga B., C/FAN & Zamrie: covering the literal and figurative A, B, C's of fashion know how! And a girl who definitely has her sartorial degree is Jena, The Style Tribe third fan of CFI's DIR collections at the Pop Up Shop. Choosing items from three of our designer's lines, she packs a punch of color and style individuality in this look. We are so happy to have pleased the chic girls of The Style Tribe!

Image via The Style Tribe

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Local Lovin'

Chicago can't seem to get enough of CFI's local fashion flavor! Erin, another member of The Style Tribe, is pleasantly partial to the sartorial stylings of DIR Anna Hovet and Ashley Zymunt's Zamrie. Feel free, readers, to feast your eyes on the lovely pairing of the designer pieces Erin chose from CFI's 900 N. Michigan Pop Up Shop!

Image via The Style Tribe

Friday, March 18, 2011

LAUNCH/CFI Party: New DIR Introduced!

LAUNCH/CFI was a smash hit success! For all of those in attendance, we are thrilled that you could join us! For those who couldn't be there, words can not explain the amazing displays of fashion that were present, but we'll do our best to set the scene:

Located on the 5th floor of 900 N. Michigan Shops, the annual CFI pop up shop was the perfect back drop to showcase the fantastic designs from both alumni designers and our new Designers in Residence (DIR) all while raising funds for our incredible organization.

Guests sipped on their choice of refreshing cocktails from Svedka along with a variety of flavors from vitaminwater and vitaminwaterzero served by Blue Plate Catering. KIND Snacks were paired with Barefoot Wines along with tasty bites provided by Frankie's Scaloppine and treats from King Cafe. A lucky group of Gilt City Gives ticket holders were able to shop the store and meet the designers before a crowd of over 350 of Chicago's fashion media and industry insiders came to celebrate. A chic crowd added to the the visually spectacular main event: the CFI garments. To put it plainly: the level of sartorial perfection was at an all time high.

Equally as exciting as the aesthetic of the designs sported by FORD models cat walking around the pop up shop, was the formal introduction of our new class of DIR:

From left to right: Shavonne Dorsey, Eric Kipp, Concetta Cipriano, Kahindo Mateene , Taneasha Prunty, Crystal Simms (Refinery29 profiled our fabulous new DIR!)

To say the LAUNCH/CFI attendees took an intense interest in the designers' original pieces would be an understatement! The new DIR hit a fashion home run---three cheers for CFI! Congratulations to our six new Designers in Residence: we are so proud of you and look forward to your great success to come!

Over all the LAUNCH/CFI event was an enormous success and there is only more fashionable entertainment to come: exclusive trunk shows, fashion shows and other fabulous events. If you are looking for a more low key but equally fashionable outing? Perhaps to shop or browse beautiful, chicago based lines? The pop up shop is open on Thursday through Sunday for your shopping pleasure. See the below CFI pop up shop calendar for special events and store hours.

Insiders tip: In the upcoming weeks, we will give you the opportunity to get a closer look at these talented new scene stealers. Designer Biography pieces will give readers a bit of a background of the designers, as well as an inside peek at each line and collection. Should be a sartorial treat!

ALSO: check out Fox Chicago interview with our very own Lara Miller and CFI Alumni Kate Coxworth!

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Partners in Fashion Crime

In keeping with our Chicago community based mission, we eagerly jumped at the chance to partner with Columbia College’s Fashion Studies Department.

Only being a few weeks into their Chicago Fashion Incubator experience, our six Designers in Residence have the incredible opportunity to pair with Columbia students enrolled in a course titled “Decision Making: Fashion Management.” This class focuses on the fundamentals of critical business decision making that are necessary in developing a competitive edge in today’s fashion/retail business market. Groups of three to four students pair with one of the six CFI designers to perfect the designers’ business plan. At the semester’s end, the student teams will give presentations highlighting the most relevant needs of their field work. This symbiotic relationship offers designers the benefit of Columbia’s academic influence, while simultaneously giving the students the opportunity to get hands on experience in the fashion/retail industry.

Good luck to both our CFI designers and Columbia students---can’t wait to see the finished product!