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A new entrepreneurial spirit is taking off in Phoenix when it comes to the fashion industry. Runway movers and shakers seem to have caught on: if you want to bring the masses to PHX fashion, the way to do it is through fun and exciting events. This season, the big date for your calendar is July 16, when organizers will bring the fourth annual Brave Wings Fashion Show (BWFS) to a runway near you. Local designers Jenesis Laforcarde, founder of Woman’s Touch Apparel, and Mabel Cortez (pronounced Mah-bel), founder of Mabella Chic, have teamed up to present an evening of new looks, from the glamorous to the mainstream. Originally, the whole idea behind the show was to provide a venue for start-up designers to showcase their talents. But when Cortez started brainstorming with Laforcarde, they decided they wanted community outreach, too. Both young women had already successfully launched their own clothing companies (and been featured at Phoenix Fashion Week), so it was time to take their work to a new level. “Jenesis is very creative, that’s why we work so well together,” Cortez says. “She has her own business and I have mine, and one day we just decided to come together and do something for charity.” “Brave Wings Fashion Show was born while Mabel and I were eating sushi. LOL!” Jenesis Laforcarde writes in an email. “We were discussing what new shows we were going to participate in. We realized, why invest in another business when we can create our own? With my background in fashion show production and Mabel’s background with sales and marketing, we are a force to be reckoned with.” The first year that Laforcarde and Cortez partnered on Brave Wings, they selected the Sojourner Center, a women’s shelter for victims of domestic abuse, as the recipient for the proceeds. They decided to rotate charities annually in order to spread the love. So the second year they selected Ryan’s House, a Valley nonprofit that provides hospice support for families of children living with terminal illness. Last year it was the local nonprofit Singleton Mom, for single parents battling cancer. And this year, the proceeds will go to the Arizona Burn Foundation. “We always try to find a local organization that typically does not get federal funding,” says Cortez. Last year’s event took place at the W Hotel in Scottsdale. Not only were the seated passes sold out, there were food vendors, booths for designers to sell their wares, and various other activities throughout the night. “This being our fourth year, now we are definitely on the map. People look forward to it and know what our purpose is—what we stand for,” Cortez says. Prior to the event, a world of logistics and planning must take place. Cortez says that these administrative duties are taken on solely by Laforcarde and herself. They will invite a handful of local designers to help them promote Brave Wings and hire a local independent videographer to produce a video about the featured charitable organization, which will be shown on the day of the event to get their stories out. They also secure the venue, sell tickets and find sponsors for the event. “Every year has been a little different,” Cortez says, who recently left her day job to run Mabella Chic full-time and to organize Brave Wings. This year, the runway show and full-day event will be held at a newly opened downtown event space, Vintage 45, located in the heart of the warehouse district. The building, which originally housed a meatpacking company, has a lot of history and a JAVA 35 MAGAZINE