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I had the great pleasure of attending the Chicago Fashion Foundation’s 3rd Annual Scholarship Award Benefit this past Thursday, March 4, 2010. The event was to recognize the talents of nine fashion design students of various art schools within the Chicago area. The students were asked to create a garment inspired by one of the Chicago sister cities they were given. The following students represented the following countries:

Anna Gaukel/Columbia College
Sister City: Paris, France

Shizuka Horii/IADT
Sister City: Hamburg, Germany

Eunyoung Joo/IADT
Sister City: Moscow, Russia

Vanessa Lambert/IADT
Sister City: Osaka, Japan

Caitlin Lindell/IADT
Sister City: Prague, Czech Republic

Randy Rusnadi/Harper College
Sister City: Athens, Greece

Michael Schellenbach/Illinois Institute of Art
Sister City: Moscow, Russia

Theresa Taylor-Wedlaw/IADT
Sister City: Casablanca, Morocco

LaTonya Williams/IADT
Sister City: Busan, Republic of Korea

The winner was awarded a $5,000 scholarship to help further their studies and craft. The designs were judged in “Project Runway style” having the fashion designers explain in front of judges (Stacey Jones-Fashion Director/Chicago Magazine, Steven Rosengard-former competitor/Project Runway, Tracey Tarantino – Director/ZZAZZ Enterprises, Inc., Erikka Wang – Owner/Akira, and Andrea Schwartz – Director of Media Relations and Cause Marketing/Macy’s North and Midwest) the construction and inspiration of their garments.

Eunyoung Joo of IADT (my alma mater), inspired by Moscow, Russia, was the winner for the night, and with due cause because her design was admirable and you could definitely see the Moscow inspirational influences. Randy Rusnadi of Harper College inspired by Athens, Greece was the runner-up, winning a $1,000 scholarship. Michael Schellenbach of The Illinois Institute of Art inspired by Moscow, Russia came in third place winning a $500 scholarship.

Congratulations to Eunyoung, and kudos to the Chicago Fashion Foundation (CFF) for remaining a consistent and relevant force in supporting the emerging talent in the Chicago fashion community.