On Saturday night, local publication Moda Fashion Gazette overtook Resolution Digital Studios to celebrate its one-year anniversary with some 350 guests, a fashion show, live entertainment, and a magazine-shaped birthday cake. The mag's founder and editor in chief, Angeliki Garris, began planning the heavily branded bash in January. "The whole event was very brand oriented, starting with a lot of pink everywhere," she said, adding that Moda's colors are pink, black, and white.
Along with lighting, bars, floral centerpieces, and lounge furniture in the magazine's signature hue, Garris arranged for entertainment that would reflect Moda's brand. After local band Bright Like Japan performed, the evening's main act, Los Angeles-based Bitter:Sweet, took to the stage. "Their music is in a lot of [fashion-oriented] movies like The Devil Wears Prada and Sex in the City," Garris said, adding that the band was also featured in the last issue of her magazine.
According to Garris, planning the evening's 15-minute fashion show, which showcased clothing from local boutiques and national designers, was the trickiest part of the planning process. "The timing was really hard," she said. "We had the two band rehearsals, and then we just didn't have enough time for a fashion show rehearsal. And though everything ended up going well, we could have used just a little bit more time to get it all together," she said.
Another challenge: working with vendors and entertainment in two states. In Chicago, "I was working with so many people to make sure we had everything we needed, from little details like goodie bags to big things like catering," Garris said. At the same time, "just trying to get [Bitter:Sweet] out here was a process—we had to deal with a lot of scheduling," she said.
Ultimately, Garris said partnering with multitasking vendors and sponsors helped make her job manageable. For example, along with providing beverages, sponsor Red Bull pulled in the evening's DJ; staffers at Resolution Digital Studios handled elements of the event such as staging and lighting.
Correction: The text has been updated to properly reflect Resolution Digital Studios' role in lighing and staging.
