The Countdown

Ten days left ‘til Showtime. I arrived yesterday in Chicago and was taken off to the home of my collaborator and Chef-in-Chief Efrain Cuevas. Coming to his pad was actually the first important step finally seeing the space where Vagadu’s debut will be held. The artist collective where he lives is called the Orphanage and historically it was a school for kids. Now it is home for some wayward musicians and a chef ;-). Connected and still very much associated to a Lutheran Church, the Orphanage provides a beautiful showroom for artists and musicians to show off their talents. To me, it is the perfect venue for the Vagadu event. The space currently is set up like a 1940’s cabaret with lush lounging furniture and tables surrounded by strangely decorated trees…I could picture the likes of Anais Nin, Henry Miller and their compatriots finding themselves very much at home.

Charming as it is, there is still lots of work to be done to perfect it for the show. I will be working along side with Beth, our set designer (she does design and construction for commercial and film) to take the space to a new level of beauty as we transform it to a Rex wonderland.

Today was jammed packed with important meetings. Efrain and I rolled out of bed into 22 degree Fahrenheit weather to meet up with our publicist Jennifer from Vanguard PR. After corresponding with her for months, it is fun finally starting to meet everyone who has put such great energy and talent to making the Vagadu debut a success.

After our meeting full of strategy and planning for the crucial few days left to promote the event, Efrain and I zipped over to his web designer Eric’s office (Blueprint Design Studio). We had to give him all information and pictures for our posters, flyers and look books he will be designing. The look books are filled with gorgeous images of almost all of the Vagadu designs that were taken by my friend John Martin. These look-books/catalogues will be displayed at the Dec. 8^th to invite people to view the clothing at leisure and as a guide for purchasing the items as well.

Whew! It is the end of the day and I am tired. Thanks to my terrific team back in San Francisco I can be here taking care of all the last minute details while Lauren and girls are working hard on finishing up the last of the collection plus some fun creative couture pieces that really reflect their own personalities.