MISSION

Mission:

Underscore the importance of the UEDM as a vehicle for bringing fresh styles and new designers to the public's attention.

Provide a profitable marketplace and tools/resources necessary (including fashion business workshops and an online community for designers, stylists, models, etc�) for emerging designers to build and expose their product.

Position the UEDM as an essential resource for Harlem's economic development and provide additional exposure to Harlem based businesses.

Establish the UEDM as a tourist destination and a must-see attraction for lovers of cutting-edge fashion, affordable styles and affordable accessories.

About the Founders:

Enyinne Owunwanne

A former Wall Street analyst and pharmaceutical rep, Enyinne grew up in locales as varied as Rochester, NY and Kuwait City, Kuwait. She cultivated a global eye for fashion through extensive travels throughout Europe, Africa and the Middle East and underscores her international style philosophy with several certificate programs at Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) including Fashion Styling, Image Consulting, and Creative Enterprise Ownership. Enyinne will earn her Masters degree in Global Fashion Management from FIT in 2009 and currently holds a Bachelors degree from the University of Pennsylvania's Biological Basis of Behavior program. Enyinne resides in Harlem and is co-founder of the vintage fashion company Seasoned to Perfection.

Michelle Gittens

A devotee of fashion by nature and a businesswoman at heart, Michelle is a native New Yorker who discovered the importance of style in her teens. After five years at Lehman Brothers, she stepped away from a thriving career in real-estate finance to pursue her passion. Michelle graduated with honors from the University of Pennsylvania, where she earned a BA in psychology. She is presently completing competency-based course work at Fashion Institute of Technology and enrolled in Parson School of Design's fashion marketing program. Last year, Time magazine recognized her as an "Outstanding Volunteer" for her commitment to tutoring and counseling at-risk youth in Harlem, where she lives. Michelle is co-founder of Seasoned to Perfection.

Partnerships:

Havelock Nelson, Public Relations

Havelock is a Public Relations specialist in New York, contributing to a broad range of regional and national public relations campaigns. Prior to his work in Public Relations, Havelock was a Journalist and became Billboard magazine's first rap editor in 1991. Havelock has written for such publications as Rolling Stone, Vibe, Entertainment Weekly and the Village Voice and has scripted television programs for MTV and NYC-TV. Havelock is also a pop culture expert, quoted in The New Yorker, The New York Times and People and featured on ABC, BET, CNN, Fox News Channel, the BBC, FX, and UPN.

Epiphany Media, Promotional Sponsorship and Product Placement

Epiphany challenges category leaders, notably those brands where perhaps growth has stalled or poised for "iconic status", to take their brands the final distance. We create brand momentum thru the execution of opportunities that lead to relevant and sustainable growth with the Urban Couture marketplace. The Epiphany approach designs a brand experience that has the brand discovered or re-discovered by the most dynamic and prolific spending consumer segment. Epiphany is your best chance to seriously deliver a "brand win" in the highly competitive Urban Couture marketplace.

Harlem Textile Works, Non-Profit and Business Development Partner

Harlem Textile Works is a design studio and training facility dedicated to preserving the traditional art of textile design. A 501(c)(3) corporation and social enterprise, Harlem Textile Works trains youths and adults in silkscreen techniques, art and textile design, offering arts education, career development, and nurturing and cultivating within them an entrepreneurial spirit.

Sponsors of the UEDM