Emerald City Fashion Week makes big announcement
The first annual Emerald City Fashion Week is fast approaching.
The week-long event September 15-18, is aimed at supporting local charities and bringing together the Puget Sound region’s diverse fashion and lifestyle community to celebrate and showcase what makes the Northwest unique. The concept behind ECFW, according to founder Steven Matsumoto, is to build a foundation for the fashion industry with designers, manufacturers, industry experts and suppliers from around the world converging on the Seattle area.
The goal this year is to create a strong buzz behind local and national designers. To help achieve this goal, the team behind ECFW has sought out well-known designers such as the recently announced, Jazmin Whitley, designer of the Li Cari clothing label. Whitley launched her clothing label “Li Cari” during Los Angeles Fashion Week in 2006 at the age of 17 and depended on sales from local boutiques to help her grow her company.
Now 21, Whitley is a world renowned designer who is giving back by helping and supporting local designers and local boutiques. She has been featured in W Magazine, Seventeen, Teen Vogue, as well as on the cover of Santa Monica Sun and California Apparel News. She is also the star of “House of Jazmin,” a documentary about the life of a young fashion designer. Her clients include Jamie Pressly, Paris Hilton, Blu Cantrell and Courtney Halverson.
“We all need to help each other grow to keep our country strong,” says Whitley. “Designers and fashion houses need to produce their products in America and source American fabrics and Americans need to shop American-made products. This will help our economy, and help create jobs now and in the future.”
