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Fashion Fri Mar 09 2012
Chicago Fashion Foundation: "Future of Chicago Fashion"
The Chicago Cultural Center recently hosted the Chicago Fashion Foundation's (CFF) celebration of the fashion community with "Future of Chicago Fashion," its annual scholarship award benefit. The CFF, a non-profit organization that "supports the fashion industry in Chicago including student designers, Chicago fashion designers and anyone who is involved with the fashion industry in Chicago," held a design competition, which included a runway fashion show, to recognize student designers in the city.
With "Chicago Street Style" as the evening's theme, the event, now in its 5th year, was hosted by Chicago's Corri McFadden, star of the new VH1 reality show "House of Consignment" and judged by industry professionals including Catie Keogh of NBC5's "24/7" and Erikka Wang, co-founder and co-owner of Chicago-based boutique, Akira. The show featured 10 student finalists from Columbia College Chicago, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Illinois Institute of Art; of the finalists, scholarships were awarded to the top three designers in the amounts of $5,000, $1,500 and $500, with Columbia's Elena Bobysheva taking the top prize. For Bobysheva, placing first in the competition was rewarding. "It feels amazing to be the winner; it's been a long road, especially since I've only been sewing for two years. The next steps for me are to start researching for my senior collection next year."
The CFF also enjoys support from its alumni associates; for designer LaTonya Williams, participating in the annual benefit is an opportunity to contribute to the organization. "Every year I come back as an alumni designer to represent the Chicago Fashion Foundation," said Williams. "It's huge for Chicago because it recognizes the entire city in the world of fashion."
