Holding true to our mission to connect the fashion industry professionals, we’ve held the forth Fashion Industry Mixer. And this time we’ve decided to add something new to the event and spotlight an up and coming Chicago based fashion label in an informal showcase.
Fashion Industry Mixers are niche networking event series where you can expand your network and find business opportunities. Held at a refined venues, surrounded by a vibrant ambiance and low volume music to make networking a comfortable exercise. Color coded tags are given to each attendee to help find the right people to connect with.
It’s an industry event for anyone who is looking to increase their exposure and get new contacts or are looking for talent to collaborate on photoshoots and fashion shows. Each Mixer is held at a different venue allowing the guests to experience what Chicago as a city has to offer.
The venue of choice for this event was Old Town Social, which aims to offer a handcrafted return to the basics. Creating incredible experience through ambiance and taste this venue is a neighborhood favorite.
Our forth Fashion Industry Mixer held on September 13 was the first event where we had a featured designer. GOCA Designs, a Chicago based women’s clothing label, had showcased their latest collection that emphasizes the importance of duality.
The label was founded by Gordana Rasic with the help of Omar Villalobos. Each of their collections is focused on an obscure truth and attempts to bring that obscurity into clarity. The overall focus of the label is to open the audience to the idea that perception is reality, and that not everything has a solidified perspective, but that all goods may also be evils, and that all truths may even be lies.
We’ve recently interviewed Gordana Rasic and Omar Villalobos to find out more about GOCA and their philosophy on fashion design.
While sipping on red Cabernet Sauvignon and white Albarino and tasting light hors d’oeuvres – deviled eggs, pork belly BLT and mini grilled cheese – guests were getting busy networking. Business cards were changing hands as the professionals were introducing themselves. Few had even their iPhones out and showing snippets of their work.
Half way through the event three models, Willow Faygenholtz, Rolake Balogun and Katie Udelhoven dressed in stunning GOCA dresses made their grand entrance. Showing off the clothes they made their way thought the crowd, answered questions about the label and posed for pictures.
Another first was producing an event video about the Fashion Industry Mixer and the featured designer. The video is a glimpse of what is happening at the Mixers.
Next Fashion Industry Mixer featuring Crystal B. Designs will be held on Oct 4 at Frontier.
Video credits:
Featured Designer – GOCA Designs
Reporter – Ashley Saunders
Event Video – Tony Rizzo
Event Photography – Aaron Kissman and Molly Stankovsky
Models – Willow Faygenholtz, Rolake Balogun, Katie Udelhoven
Makeup – Pati Cantu
