EVENTS

California Fashion Students Honored at Awards Luncheon

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Eunju Kim of California State University, Northridge

Marking its 15th year honoring California-based student designers, the California Fashion Foundation—the California Fashion Association’s philanthropic organization—recently hosted its annual scholarship-awards luncheon.

Los Angeles’ apparel-industry leaders gathered in the Fashion Theater at the California Market Center to honor students who presented innovative creations that gave a glimpse into the future of fashion and others who revealed fresh takes on traditional apparel making.

Led by CFA President Ilse Metchek, the Sept. 27 event began with lunch provided by Brian Weitman of STC-QST Textiles and New Moon Restaurant as industry insiders Tammy Chatkin, executive vice president of the recruitment firm 24 Seven; Annabelle Lee, owner of Seamless Land/See You Monday; and IndieSource co-founder Zack Hurley provided words of guidance to the students.

During the luncheon, the CFF gave out its Fashion Star Awards in five categories: design, brand development, presentation, technology and fashion with ethics.

Design honors were presented to:

• Nhi Bui of California State University, Long Beach by Karen Kane.

• SooMin Chun of Otis College of Art and Design by Naked Cashmere.

• Julian Fakeye of California State University, Los Angeles by Stony Apparel.

• Rachel Galvez of the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising by Design Knit.

• Jacqueline Peng of Mt. San Antonio College by Velvet Heart.

• Yvan Tran of Woodbury University by Swat Fame.

• Olga Vakhteeva of Pasadena City College by KWDZ Manufacturing.

Brand Development Awards were given to:

• Hanan Argaw of the Academy of Art University, San Francisco by the Cooper Design Space.

• Michael Borscheid of Los Angeles Trade-Tech College by UBM/MAGIC.

• Lizbeth Cacho of the Art Institute of California, San Diego by Fineman West & Co.

• Yun Huang of California Polytechnic, Pomona by CIT Commercial Services.

• Eunju Kim of California State University, Northridge by Moss Adams.

• Pamela Kossek of Long Beach City College by Cohn Handler Sturm.

• Pei Han Lee of Santa Monica College bySTC-QST Textiles.

• Reginald Snowden of the Art Institute of California, Hollywood by the California Market Center.

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Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising Fashion Design Program co-chair Nick Verreos and California Fashion Association President Ilse Metchek | Photo by Volker Corell

ArtCenter College of Design student Robert Jesus Valle Jr. received the Best Presentation Award from the California Apparel News.

In addition to those honors, which included $1,000 awards, two students received Fashion with Ethics Awards. Eunju Kim was honored for her work by the Ben & Joyce Eisenberg Foundation while Reginald Snowden received his award from the Rags for Riches Foundation.

Technology Awards were presented to Michael Borscheid and Yvan Tran, who were honored by AIMS 360, and Yun Huang, who was recognized by Tukatech. In addition to their cash awards, the students were presented with software from each awarding company to ease the young designers’ entrance into the fashion industry.

The prestigious Betty L. Baumgardner Award for Best Use of Textiles was awarded to SooMin Chun.