• The Experience
  • The Work
  • The Fashion Pipeline
    • The Pipeline Operation
    • Cincinnati Fashion
    • Dayton Fashion
    • Dayton Threads
    • (DE-FI)ance Magazine
    • (DE-FI) Models Agency
    • Fashion Institute of Ohio
    • House of (DE-FI)ance
  • Apply
  • Give
    • Become A Partner
    • The Art of (DE-FI)ance
    • Ellie's Rainy Day Fund
    • Support Our Work
  • News
  • Events
  • More
    • The Experience
    • The Work
    • The Fashion Pipeline
      • The Pipeline Operation
      • Cincinnati Fashion
      • Dayton Fashion
      • Dayton Threads
      • (DE-FI)ance Magazine
      • (DE-FI) Models Agency
      • Fashion Institute of Ohio
      • House of (DE-FI)ance
    • Apply
    • Give
      • Become A Partner
      • The Art of (DE-FI)ance
      • Ellie's Rainy Day Fund
      • Support Our Work
    • News
    • Events
  • Sign In
  • Create Account

  • Orders
  • My Account
  • Signed in as:

  • filler@godaddy.com


  • Orders
  • My Account
  • Sign out

Signed in as:

filler@godaddy.com

  • The Experience
  • The Work
  • The Fashion Pipeline
    • The Pipeline Operation
    • Cincinnati Fashion
    • Dayton Fashion
    • Dayton Threads
    • (DE-FI)ance Magazine
    • (DE-FI) Models Agency
    • Fashion Institute of Ohio
    • House of (DE-FI)ance
  • Apply
  • Give
    • Become A Partner
    • The Art of (DE-FI)ance
    • Ellie's Rainy Day Fund
    • Support Our Work
  • News
  • Events

Account


  • Orders
  • My Account
  • Sign out


  • Sign In
  • Orders
  • My Account
(DE-FI) Global INC

"Success comes to the underdog who doesn't let sleeping dogs lie...

"Success comes to the underdog who doesn't let sleeping dogs lie..."Success comes to the underdog who doesn't let sleeping dogs lie...

Incubator.Education.Community.Celebration.

Vision, Mission, and Core Values

Our Vision

Our Mission

Our Mission

We aspire to be a leader in regional fashion, to promote excellence, and gain recognition for our community as a global leader for the discovery of emerging designers, model development, creative expressions, fashion manufacturing, and innovation. Recognizing that:


1) Diversity is not limited to the physical attributes that we possess, it also encompasses thought and experiences.  Diversity is not performative. 


2) Equality is more than treating everyone the same, it's an understanding of history, removing historical roadblocks and barriers that have blocked access to  needed resources and opportunities to a level playing field. 


3) Inclusion is not a one size fits all  performative participation trophy, rather it's sincere steps and actions to heal past wounds and welcome all to a sit at the table where many were once denied and ensuring that they are supplied with the needed tools for success.


All of  which are essential components of our excellence.

Our Mission

Our Mission

Our Mission

We seek to develop and provide support to Dayton, Cincinnati, and the Midwest fashion industries and prepare leaders in fashion through our business resources, meaningful exposure, education, advocacy, advancement, and outreach programs to enhance economic competitiveness regionally, nationally, and globally.

Core Values

Our Mission

Core Values

By making Dayton and Cincinnati a fashion capital for emerging talent and development, our core values are: excellence; diversity in people and of ideas; inclusion; access; affordability; innovation; collaboration; multidisciplinary endeavor; integrity; openness, honesty; transparency; and trust.

How Do We Accomplish Our Mission

We are leading the way in placing Dayton and Cincinnati in the $900 Billion dollar a year global fashion spotlight. With the fashion industry being the 2nd largest employer in the U.S., it's more than just the clothes on our backs or entertainment; fashion is an opportunity for economic growth for our community which has no projected growth for the next 15 years.


We've all heard it before, "location...location...location", did you know that Macy's had headquarters in Cincinnati which is a 45-minute drive from Dayton? Or that Columbus housed L-Brands, Abercrombie, Victoria's Secret, and more as well as being home to the 3rd largest population of fashion designers behind New York and L.A., and is an hour and fifteen-minute drive from Dayton? and that Hugo Boss was manufactured in Cleveland, a three-hour drive from Dayton? In fact, because both I-75 and I-70 run through Dayton, the Miami Valley area was a hub for auto manufacturing for decades. At least 11 other major US cities are within a 45 minute to an 8-hour drive from Dayton including Chicago, Atlanta, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Detroit, Memphis, and Nashville just to name a few, many of which have CFDA Connects programming as well, making our community prime real estate for garment manufacturing and headquarters.


We accomplish our mission by:


  1. Growing our Fashion Pipeline with outreach, training, and opportunity.
  2. Supporting emerging designers by providing required resources needed to advance their careers.  
  3. Providing a support system for aspiring models by educating them on the industry and providing legitimate opportunities for paid work and career advancement. 
  4. Building relationships and establishing partnerships by recognizing that community is the key to success.  
  5. Bridging the gap between our market and larger markets. 
  6. Providing an opportunity to be published in (DE-FI)ance Magazine as well as other publications.

Fashion Incubator + Goals + Strategic Plan = Fashion Capital

Our Fashion Incubators have made Dayton the Fashion Capital of the Midwest for the development and success of fashion based talent and we're adding Cincinnati to the list. 


A few of our goals include: 


  1. Invest in engaged scholarships to improve impact and reputation of  the (DE-FI) brand's transnational and educational programs.  
  2. Conduct commercially viable research on the fashion industry and become the national and international leader in collaborating with industry to drive significant advances for critical societal and economic changes.  
  3. Provide a world-class fashion advancement program becoming and/or maintaining our stature as a top-ten producer fashion-based talent. 
  4. Be a national leader in fashion manufacturing. 
  5. Be a national leader in professional and career development.   
  6. Create and sustain a top-performing, diverse and inclusive Advancement organization that will attract and retain first-rate talent within the framework of an integrated infrastructure and a highly collaborative culture, to optimize constituent engagement, alumni loyalty, and philanthropic revenues.  
  7. Foster awareness of and advocacy for the (DE-FI) Family of Brands to enhance revenue, reputation, and rankings.  
  8. Broaden and deepen constituent engagement with the (DE-FI) Family of Brands to develop more meaningful and loyal relationships that can be leveraged towards increasing philanthropic and other means of support.  
  9. Increase and strengthen corporate/industry partnerships with the (DE-FI) Family of Brands to optimize philanthropic revenues and research grants, as well as to increase experiential learning and career opportunities for students.  
  10. Optimize and maximize philanthropic support of the (DE-FI) Family of Brands towards attaining and sustaining $250,000 in private funds raised annually by or before the end of the following fiscal year.  
  11. Create and sustain an organizational environment that intentionally values inclusive excellence and advances equity.  
  12. Become recognized as a state, national, and international leader advancing diversity, inclusion, and equity in fashion.  
  13. Grow and transform our physical spaces to drive learning and innovation.  
  14. Implement a centric organizational structure in business operations, human resources, and finance to support the strategic goals of (DE-FI) Global INC to ensure services are provided efficiently with a focus on customer service.  
  15. Resource Stewardship.  
  16. Our goals will be supported by the strategic investment of our resources, including financial resources, human capital and infrastructure.     


Highlights from our Strategic Plan   


  • The strategic plan is based on focusing our resources on a robust financial plan emphasizing multi-year investments in support of our mission.   
  • We will develop diversified revenue streams and maximize our opportunities to leverage our resources across the Ohio, the Midwest and external collaborations.   
  • We will offer robust mentoring and retention programs for our entire team.   
  • We will support our team through a strong merit-based compensation program and professional development opportunities.  
  • We will ensure our operations are efficient and streamlined to maximize our effectiveness.   We will ensure our team is highly trained in financial analysis and planning and works in collaboration to manage the financial resources.

Expertise

Talent Development and Management

For nearly a decade we have helped to launch the careers of over 1000 models, designers, photographers, HMUA's, writers, sewists, and more. We have helped them navigate the frequently changing fashion industry to build lasting careers and businesses. 

Fashion Operations and Advisory

Headquartered in Dayton, Ohio, (DE-FI) creates, designs, and executes strategic plans for fashion careers that pave the way for transformative, innovative, memorable events, and experiences with support from CFDA Connects programming making the Miami Valley and Southwest Ohio the fashion capital for talent development.

Experience and Event Management

We own and/or produce more than 10 signature events, from live fashion shows, to community engagement, and brand building educational series that merge culture, art, music, culinary, and lifestyle. 

Media Production and Distribution

We are a content platform specializing in development, production, marketing, and distribution of fashion related talent and work out of the Dayton and Cincinnati region.

Creative Marketing and Branding

A marketing business providing experiential, impacters, influencer, and public relations expertise for fashion based talent in Dayton and Cincinnati but not limited to our region. 

Community First

Our Village

In our formative years, (DE-FI) served as a volunteer based organization, providing services to designers and models alike free of charge and in exchange, we asked that all participants volunteered at least 40 hours per year in their respective communities in order to re-invest in others in the same manner that we have invested in them.


Always putting community first we taught self-worth with a focus on inner beauty, while mentoring area youth.  In 8+ years outside of the fashion aspect of what we do, we've helped organize drives that fed and clothed thousands of people across the Miami Valley for the holidays; supported and sponsored events and organizations designed to fight substance abuse and improve relationships between under-served communities and the police; we've collected can goods for the hungry, school supplies for low income families; built homes for the homeless; fought cancer by raising money towards a cure as well as hosting bone marrow drives, just to name a few.  We've been the change that we wanted to see in our community and we did it all without  requiring an audience, media attention, or public validation to do so.   


Moving forward, sincere community engagement will always be the cornerstone of our success.

FacebookInstagramTikTokTwitterYouTube
FacebookInstagramTikTokTwitterYouTube
FacebookInstagramTikTokTwitterYouTube
FacebookInstagramTikTokTwitterYouTube
FacebookInstagramTikTokTwitterYouTube
FacebookInstagramTikTokTwitterYouTube

Help Our Cause

Due to financial hardships, we have several participants in our incubators who are unable to afford the cost of the services that we offer.  We never turn anyone away due to their inability to pay. Your support and contributions to The Art of (DE-FI)ance Fashion Fund allows us to keep our services affordable and provide hardship grants to participants in need.

Pay with PayPal or a debit/credit card

Copyright © 2023 (DE-FI) Global INC - All Rights Reserved.


Powered by (DE-FI)

This website uses cookies.

We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.

Accept

The Official Newsletter for All Things (DE-FI) is Launching

Subscribe