Wendy Krimins started her career with luxury retailer Neiman Marcus in 1999 and has been the Vice President/General Manager of the Michigan Avenue store since 2005. At Neiman Marcus, Krimins leads a team of 300 employees, who are dedicated to delivering a superior customer service experience.

At the Michigan Avenue store, Wendy directed the remodel of the entire store, solidifying its status as the premier luxury retail store in Chicago. She has also had the pleasure of meeting many designers, including Diane von Furstenburg, Donna Karan, Tory Burch, Zac Posen, Derek Lam, Michael Kors, Christian Louboutin, Manolo Blahnik and David Yurman.

Her fashion influence stems from her mother, who was always perfectly styled for any occasion, and her sense of style was honed at Neiman Marcus. Her love of fashion covers everything from clothing to jewelry, shoes and handbags. Some of her favorite designers include Oscar de la Renta, Chanel and Brunello Cucinelli.

Timothy Long is Director and Senior Specialist of Couture at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers in Chicago. Long is an experienced author and museum curator of fashion and has worked in the world’s leading collections of historic clothing, textiles and decorative arts including the Museum of London, The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and the Chicago History Museum. His recent publications include Charles James: Designer in Detail and a chapter on the same designer in London Couture: British Luxury 1923-1975.

Raised in New York City by French and Taiwanese parents, Chloé grew up in the fashion industry. Having trained in the atelier of her father, Gilles Mendel, she collaborated on his inaugural haute couture collection which was shown in Paris in July 2016. As the sixth-generation family member of the house of Mendel, Chloé aims to continue that same tradition of fine quality and craftsmanship with Maison Atia, designing each piece like a stand-alone work of art. She lives between New York and Chicago with her son, Augustus, and partner, Billy Corgan.

Sylwia Wilczynska is the owner and head designer of Sylwia Designs Inc. located in Lincoln Park in Chicago. Wilczynska was born and raised in Poland where she attended art school to study painting and sculpture. At the age of 19, she moved to the United States and began working in the fashion industry.

Wilczynska's work with private clientele, as well as the creation of ready-to-wear collections, began over fifteen years ago. Sylwia Designs Inc. focuses primarily on womenswear and empowering women through her designs. Her aesthetic and design philosophy embody the return to classic roots of clean, defined lines and accentuated femininity. Wilczynska has extensive experience as a couturier, which allows for extreme precision in the application of proportion when pattern making.

Kpoene’ Kofi-Nicklin is the Creative Director of Mignonette Bridal, a couture bridal label focusing on heirloom techniques and Art Nouveau styling. She earned a B.A. in Creative Writing and Women’s Studies from Middlebury College and later studied Fashion Business and Couture at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. In 2002, she started Mignonette as a womenswear label, and in 2007 put the label on hold to become a buyer for Macy’s West. After relocating to Chicago, Kofi-Nicklin relaunched her label and opened Mignonette Bridal, a brick-and- mortar bridal salon, in Lakeview.

Since opening Mignonette Bridal in 2010, it has been recognized as one of Chicago’s best bridal salons by Brides Magazine, Chicago magazine, Time Out, Daily Candy, CBS, Racked, and Refinery 29, and its designs have been featured in numerous wedding publications including Martha Stewart, The Knot, and Style Me Pretty. In 2014, Mignonette was an Editor’s Choice Finalist for the Martha Stewart American Made Award. Kofi-Nicklin recently graduated from the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program and in 2017 Mignonette was named one of the best bridal salons in the US by Brides Magazine. In 2018 Kofi-Nicklin also launched Ette the Wedding Tailor as a co-owner.

Wendy Krimins started her career with luxury retailer Neiman Marcus in 1999, and has been the Vice President/General Manager of the Michigan Avenue store since 2005. At Neiman Marcus, Krimins leads a team of 300 employees, who are dedicated to delivering a superior customer service experience.

At the Michigan Avenue store, Wendy directed the remodel of the entire store, solidifying its status as the premier luxury retail store in Chicago. She has also had the pleasure of meeting many designers including Diane von Furstenberg, Donna Karan, Tory Burch, Zac Posen, Derek Lam, Christian Louboutin, Manolo Blahnik and David Yurman.

Her fashion influence stems from her mother, who was always perfectly styled for any occasion, and her sense of style was honed at Neiman Marcus. Her love of fashion covers everything from clothing to jewelry, shoes and handbags. Some of her favorite designers include Oscar de la Renta, Chanel and Brunello Cucinelli.

Sanja Manakoski is a Chicago-based costume designer. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Costume and Fashion Design from University of Applied Arts and Design in Belgrade, and her Masters of Fine Arts in Stage Design from Northwestern University. Before relocating to Chicago, Manakoski worked on several theatre and movie productions in Europe such as November Man, In Secret, Chernobyl Diaries, and Panama. She is one of the creators of the fashion label KLASA which received numerous awards on the fashion runway in Belgrade. Manakoski’s costume design for the musical Hair received the ULUPUDS award for Outstanding Costume Design, and were exhibited in the Prague Quadrennial 2015. Manakoski teaches costume and make-up design at Northwestern University.

Previous designs include: Quixote on the Conquest of Self at Writers Theatre; White; A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum; Middletown; The Great Gatsby; Fuente Ovejuna; and Danceworks 2017 at Northwestern University. Upcoming: Futura:Past Forward; Hedwig Dances; Mother Courage and her Children at Oakton Community College; Romeo and Juliet; and The Promised Land at Urban Stages, New York.

Mark Roscoe has been actively involved in the fashion industry for the past 30 years. Roscoe’s artful selection of the finest fabrics create a unique multi-dimensional look, often selecting silks laced with unusual textures, colors and patterns. His distinctive, one-of-a-kind pieces complement the unique personality of his clients and the spirit of the event for which the garment is being created. The Mark Roscoe “Make A Statement” collection has made appearances at the prestigious events including the Emmy Awards where he dressed Emmy Award winner Keegan Michael Key.

Roscoe recently provided costume design for the feature film, “Dreams I Never Had” starring Robin Givens and Malcolm McDowell. Additionally, he recently won three Emmy Awards for his brand commercial, “Make A Statement.” In addition to his clothing line, Roscoe is a licensed practicing attorney, a certified Family Law Mediator and a member of the Screen Actor’s Guild.

Ellie Cotey has worked extensively in the field of theatrical costume design and production. She currently serves as Head of Wardrobe at the Joffrey Ballet. Under Cotey’s leadership, the Joffrey costume shop constructed costumes for the company’s first new Nutcracker in almost 30 years, choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon. Previously, she spent five seasons at the Utah Shakespeare Festival and five seasons at the Milwaukee Ballet Company, starting as an intern and working her way up to the womenswear draper. As a costume technician, Cotey has also built costumes for many major regional theatre institutions such as the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, First Stage, Florentine Opera, American Players Theatre, Illinois Shakespeare Festival, Albany Theater Project, Timeline Theatre, Paramount Theatre and UW-Milwaukee Dance and Theatre Departments. Also a designer herself, Cotey has designed costumes for Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Fireside Dinner Theatre, Youngblood Theatre, Optimist Theatre, and Wisconsin Lutheran College. She is a member of the IATSE Labor Union, Local 769 and is also the Secretary of the Windy City Chapter of the Embroiderers’ Guild of America. She graduated in 2009 from UW-Milwaukee with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Costume Production and in 2016 was named UWM’s Graduate of the Last Decade.

Wendy Krimins started her career with luxury retailer Neiman Marcus in 1999, and has been the Vice President/General Manager of the Michigan Avenue store since 2005. At Neiman Marcus, Krimins leads a team of 300 employees, who are dedicated to delivering a superior customer service experience.

At the Michigan Avenue store, Wendy directed the remodel of the entire store, solidifying its status as the premier luxury retail store in Chicago. She has also had the pleasure of meeting many designers including Diane von Furstenberg, Donna Karan, Tory Burch, Zac Posen, Derek Lam, Christian Louboutin, Manolo Blahnik and David Yurman.

Her fashion influence stems from her mother, who was always perfectly styled for any occasion, and her sense of style was honed at Neiman Marcus. Her love of fashion covers everything from clothing to jewelry, shoes and handbags. Some of her favorite designers include Oscar de la Renta, Chanel and Brunello Cucinelli.

Mark Roscoe has been actively involved in the fashion industry for the past 30 years. Roscoe’s artful selection of the finest fabrics create a unique multi-dimensional look, often selecting silks laced with unusual textures, colors and patterns. His distinctive, one-of-a-kind pieces complement the unique personality of his clients and the spirit of the event for which the garment is being created. The Mark Roscoe “Make A Statement” collection has made appearances at the prestigious events including the Emmy Awards where he dressed Emmy Award winner Keegan Michael Key.

Roscoe recently provided costume design for the feature film, “Dreams I Never Had” starring Robin Givens and Malcolm McDowell. Additionally, he recently won three Emmy Awards for his brand commercial, “Make A Statement.” In addition to his clothing line, Roscoe is a licensed practicing attorney, a certified Family Law Mediator and a member of the Screen Actor’s Guild.

Jennifer Worman is the CEO of T&J Designs, an online destination/brand for social media trend clothing and accessories, and the blogger behind Red Soles and Red Wine. Worman graduated with a business and accounting background but pursued her passion for fashion after several years at an accounting firm. With over 14 years of experience in fashion, she designs and manages all aspects of T&J Designs and utilizes social media as the main driver of her designs and sales. Worman is also a mom to two wonderful boys in Chicago. She loves being a mom, entrepreneur and avid supporter of small businesses.

Caryn Klein has had the pleasure of being part of the costume community in Chicago for thirty years. After working as a freelance designer for many years, she founded Costume Exchange Inc. in 1994, a center for the creation and construction of high quality costumes for theater, dance and opera. In 2001, Costume Exchange and Steppenwolf Theatre merged, and Klein is now the costume director. She manages the Steppenwolf Theatre costume shop that is honored to build costumes for all of the theatre’s stages and for other Chicago companies. Some of their valued clients include: Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Court Theatre, Hubbard Street Dance Co. and Lookingglass Theatre. Under Klein’s direction, in 2015, the shop created costumes for “Motown” and “On Your Feet,” both enjoying successful Broadway runs.

Kpoene’ Kofi-Nicklin is a couturier and Chicago resident. She earned a B.A. in Creative Writing and Women’s Studies from Middlebury College and later studied Fashion Business and Couture at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. In 2002, she started a womenswear label, Shoot Out the Stars, which was sold online and in boutiques nationwide. Kofi-Nicklin put the label on hiatus in 2007 to move to San Francisco and become a buyer at Macy’s. After becoming lead buyer for the Museum of Craft and Folk Art in 2009, she relaunched her label in 2010 as Mignonette Bridal in Chicago.

Mignonette Bridal has been recognized as one of Chicago’s best bridal salons by Chicago magazine, Time Out, Daily Candy, CBS, Racked, and Refinery 29, and its designs have been featured in numerous wedding publications including The Knot and Style Me Pretty. In 2014, Mignonette Bridal was an Editor’s Choice Finalist for the Martha Stewart American Made Award.

In 2015, Kofi-Nicklin served as the design mentor for the winners of the FashioNext student design competition at the Chicago History Museum.

Wendy Krimins started her career with luxury retailer Neiman Marcus in 1999, and has been the Vice President/General Manager of the Michigan Avenue store since 2005. At Neiman Marcus, Krimins leads a team of 300 employees, who are dedicated to delivering a superior customer service experience.

At the Michigan Avenue store, Wendy directed the remodel of the entire store, solidifying its status as the premier luxury retail store in Chicago. She has also had the pleasure of meeting many designers including Diane von Furstenberg, Donna Karan, Tory Burch, Zac Posen, Derek Lam, Christian Louboutin, Manolo Blahnik and David Yurman.

Her fashion influence stems from her mother, who was always perfectly styled for any occasion, and her sense of style was honed at Neiman Marcus. Her love of fashion covers everything from clothing to jewelry, shoes and handbags. Some of her favorite designers include Oscar de la Renta, Chanel and Brunello Cucinelli.

Kristin Larson covers local fashion, style news and features for Women’s Wear Daily (WWD). She began writing for WWD in 2000 and has reported on New York Fashion Week for several publications, interviewing designers and makeup artists backstage and dissecting the season’s key runway trends. Larson’s experience includes covering the women’s sportswear market for WWD, reporting on celebrity fashion for Life & Style Weekly and overseeing the women’s designer shoes and handbag market for Footwear News. She has also written for People StyleWatch, MSN, Real Simple and the Chicago Tribune.

Larson began her journalism career at Chicago suburban Daily Herald, working as an editorial assistant writing about fashion, food, entertainment and nightlife.

In addition to fashion, Larson is passionate about rescue dogs and she lives in Chicago with her adorable rescue mutt, Lilac.

As director of the Fifth Avenue Club at Saks Fifth Avenue, Deirdre Bormes helps wardrobe personalities across the gamut from Fortune 500 CEOs to the Queen of Soul. In 2014, she was awarded the Saks Fifth Avenue Service and Selling Award.

She began her career with Saks Fifth Avenue in New York in the executive training program in the buying organization. She started her career in Chicago as the couture buyer for Marshall Field’s and Director of the Chanel Boutique before returning to Saks Fifth Avenue in her current role.

Bormes sits on the boards of the English Speaking Union and the Leader Council for Mercy Home for Boys and Girls. She is a member of the Costume Council of the Chicago History Museum, Fashion Group International and the University of Chicago Kovler Diabetes Center. Deirdre graduated from Purdue University and the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. She also has been spotted performing on the Off Broadway stages.

Azeeza Khan was born and raised in Chicago and spent high school summers taking informal lessons in garment construction and hand embroidery. Khan later graduated from DePaul University where she studied Political Science and Marketing. During that time, she continued to design her personal wardrobe, while moving forward with a corporate career as an advertising creative director.

In 2013, Khan launched full-time into design. That year, her new label was nominated for Fashion Group International's “Rising Star Award.” The following year, Vogue India recognized Khan as a “Rising Star Designer" and she opened her first retail concept on Chicago's Magnificent Mile, making her the only local designer presence in the luxury retail district. The retail post was nominated by TimeOut and Racked as "Best New Store" of 2013, a "top Chicago destination" by Forbes Travel. CS magazine labeled the brand an “overnight success” and Travel + Leisure named her a “Top Chicago Designer.”

Azeeza US designs have been worn by iconic women including Sarah Jessica Parker, Sophia Bush and Gabrielle Union, as well as other modern style influencers such as The Blonde Salad’s Chiara Ferragni.

The Azeeza design alchemy embodies the woman focused on confidence and differentiated luxury. The emerging label is handcrafted in limited runs to ensure exclusivity and superior detailing. The collection contains versatile and transitional day-to-evening separates and accessories with subtle statement. Khan’s hometown of Chicago continues to keep the brand sustainability to the self-invested, private brand.

With almost ten years of experience curating within both social history and fine art institutions, Petra Slinkard joined the Chicago History Museum as the curator of costumes from the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) where she was the curatorial associate for textile and fashion arts. During her six years at the IMA, Slinkard contributed to the research, organization, and installation of nine exhibitions. Prior to the IMA, she worked with the Sage Collection (formerly the Elizabeth Sage Historic Costume Collection) at Indiana University and taught classes in Fashion History, Fundamentals of Textiles, Consumer Behavior, and Professional Selling & International Marketing.

Slinkard is an active member of the Costume Society of America, serving as the Midwest region’s newsletter editor and a member of the Association of Art Museum Curators. Her interests lie in historical dress as it pertains to the study of world cultures, haute couture, fashion show production, adoption and diffusion theories, manufacturing, and subcultural dress.

Gibeon Tolbert specializes in creating custom apparel. The scope of his work includes designing, fabricating and styling. Over the course of the last year, Tolbert has made a variety of casual and dress apparel for unique clientele, from bespoke suits for Chicago bulls Derrick Rose to tailored aprons for the serving fleet at Nico Restaurant.

Tolbert got his start right out of high school assisting Chicago designer Barbara Bates, who also happens to be his aunt. He then moved on to Fishman’s Fabrics, where he was promoted to manager after demonstrating his premier sales aptitude. Tolbert enjoys his double-role, and he gets first pick at the best fabrics in the world.

Kate Pankoke began designing clothing at the age of fourteen. While studying Apparel Design and Technology at Florida State University, Kate started several businesses, including BiCoastal Renewal, an online retailer that up-cycled vintage clothing. Pankoke also worked in freelance custom designing and pattern-making. Pankoke decided to specialize in formal wear, more specifically, bridal. After obtaining her bachelor’s degree, Kate began developing her first collection for Elaya Vaughn Bridal, which now operates in Chicago where she sells to boutiques across the USA and in Japan. Pankoke competed on Season 11 of Project Runway and, after an outpouring of love from fans, won a social media campaign and was selected to compete for a second time on Season 12. Pankoke came in 6th place and showed her first Ready to Wear collection at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week at Lincoln Center for Spring 2014.

When cleaning out and editing her clients' closets and homes, Lindsay Segal was always faced with the same question: what to do with all this extra stuff? Luxury Garage Sale was the obvious answer. Segal uses her styling sensibility (she's styled Wilco at the GRAMMY Awards® and assisted in styling Lady Gaga for a WWD cover shoot), and her discerning eye and love for all things vintage, to help curate Luxury Garage Sale's boutique. When she's not selling your stuff, Segal can be found collecting vintage tchotchkes and searching endlessly for the perfect costume jewelry piece.

Alison Siple is a freelance theatre costume designer based in Chicago. Recent projects include Anatole (First Stage, Milwaukee), The How and the Why (Timeline Theatre), The Tennesee Williams Project, The Mikado, Pirates of Penzance and Ivywild (Hypocrites Theatre Company) and Lord of the Flies (Steppenwolf Theatre for Young Adults). Siple designed the costumes for the award-winning production of Our Town at Barrow Street Theatre (Off-Broadway), The Broad Stage (L.A.) and Huntington Theatre Company(Boston). Upcoming Projects: Ask Aunt Susan with Goodman Theatre and A Small Fire (Steep Theatre). Siple was one of twelve Chicago artists to receive a 2011 3Arts Grant. She won the 2010 Equity Jeff Award for The Mystery of Irma Vep (Court Theatre) and the 2011 Non-Equity Jeff Award for Cabaret (The Hypocrites). Siple was awarded non-Equity Jeff Awards for Time and the Conways (Griffin) in 2006 and Leonce und Lena (The Hypocrites) in 2005. She was named one of the 5 Most Prolific Theatre Artists of the Decade by Time Out Chicago. She is an undergraduate of Northwestern University and a company member of The Hypocrites, an Artistic Associate with Lookingglass Theatre Company, and an Associate company member of Steep Theatre.