Java.July.2016

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
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