The 2nd Annual Latino Fashion Week will kick off this October 27 – November 2, 2008. The upcoming festivities have received much
attention since Chicago was the first of its kind to hold a full-fledged fashion week dedicated to Latino fashion.
-Jackie Medler

We caught up with Latino Fashion Week founder Cesar Rolan:

What inspired you to create Latino Fashion Week? The need. I requested a Latino student designer from the Greater North Michigan Avenue Association and they could not find me one. I then checked to see what stores carried local Latino designers and only found one. Next, I went into the fashion schools and spoke to 20 Latino seniors to get a consensus on what their plans were after graduation and all told me the same, “ We have to leave Chicago in order to make a name for ourselves. There is no support here for Latino designers.” I formed a board and we moved forward. Since CLFW, two of our designers opened their own showrooms, Anna Fong and James De Colon.

What is the hardest part about doing a fashion week? Getting all of the shows in order, since we do not have a full time staff. I have been blessed with the best group of board members that all work together well and give up a lot of their own spare time.

What are you most looking forward to during your fashion week? Opening more doors for Latino designers and expanding our show to the major markets.
www.chicagolatinofashion.com