Adrienne and Nkechi Take Chicago!
Wouldn't THAT be a great BRAVO TV show?! Too bad its just us two (with our little flip camera) that are heading to Chicago this week for a fun little trip of fashion, food, and hopefully the beach! As we mentioned last week, we have an event this Thursday but we thought we would use a couple days to enjoy the city. On our list of things to do, we have scouting for Chicago boutiques to sell our line as well as checking out the Chicago fashion/ shopping scene (All Saints and Zara, here we come!). Chicago is a city that I happen to have spent a lot of time in and absolutely adore. Allow me to get a little nostaligic for a moment... One of my all time favorite designer boutiques in THE WORLD (but also in Chicago) is Gamma Player, which I discovered several years ago (2007) when I spent a summer in Chicago during a graduate school break. It was my informal introduction to the fashion industry-- so many great things happened that summer. I walked into Gamma Player and was mezmerized by the collection, the store owners (legendary techno DJ and producer Jeff Mills and his beautiful wife) as well as their staff.
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Instantly making friends, I was invited to a fashion show in their space, where I met the amazing AggaB and tried on the most beautiful quilted dress. I'll never forget the words she said to me when I stepped out of the dressing room: 'This dress was made for you to wear.' (It took me a minute but I was able to unearth this from iphoto...I think I put it on and cried, and then cried again when I couldn't afford it had to take it off)
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That event lead to more fashion show invitations, more parties and more industry friends. It was the first time my photo was published in a social magazine (Chicago Social), the first time I was invited to parties with celebrities, the first time I hung out with models, writers and stylists and had no idea that (as a neuroscientist) this was the universe's way of revealing to me that this was my community and a place where I actually belonged professionally. I am so excited to go back and revisit Gamma Player and some of my other favorite boutiques. I am even more excited at the prospect of selling ArielSimone in Chicago! It will be an incredibly proud moment to find a home for ArielSimone in Chicago. Wish us luck and stay updated on facebook and twitter!
by Nkechi Njaka