Signed in as:
filler@godaddy.com
Signed in as:
filler@godaddy.com
Ed Dixon Advisor
Cindy Gaboury-Advisor
John Flynn-Advisor
Caressa L.Brown-Owner/COO
Muriel Suttles-Advisor
Danielle Simpson-Advisor
Cliff Fennell-Advisor
Nay Reynolds- Model Coordinator for Dayton Fashion Week
Belle Borders- Glam Squad Coordinator for Dayton Fashion Week
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.
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.
We seek to develop and provide support to Dayton 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.
By making Dayton 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.
We are leading the way in placing Dayton and the Miami Valley 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.
Our Fashion Incubators are making the Dayton area the Fashion Capital of the Midwest! 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
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.
Based 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 a fashion capital for talent development.
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.
We are a content platform specializing in development, production, marketing, and distribution of fashion related talent and work out of the Dayton, Ohio region.
A marketing business providing experiential, impacters, influencer, and public relations expertise for fashion based talent in Dayton but not limited to our region.
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.
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Our 2022-2023 Season launches this September and will be a private and invite only experience! Invitation request for the Dayton Fashion Week Launch Party will be available on July 13th.