On May 1, 2008 the Jacksonville City Center held their Fifth Annual Cocktail Couture event, which is an exciting apparel design competition among some of Jacksonville's most talented Design Firm Teams.
Designers used donated industry materials to create fabulous "Big Bold Derby Hats" for the second year in a row in honor of the stylish Kentucky Derby affair. The hats were judged and auctioned, with proceeds going to Dignity U Wear.
Over 100 industry reps, architects and designers attended the event; Every year, a wonderful group of of people participate in this event—from designers, local and out of town manufacture representatives, contractors, architects and Dignity U Wear employees. Companies that were represented included Florida Office Interiors, Acousti Engineering, Dixie Contract Carpet, Perdue Office Interiors, Rink Design, Gresham Smith & Partners and RS&H just to name a few.
Everyone looks forward to the live auction as people pull out their wallets and get ready to spend their money on the fashionable hats! The top running hat went for over $200 as the winning bid! The crowd loves a good bidding war.
The Jacksonville City Center created a Cocktail Couture team among local designers and industry professionals who donated countless hours in the planning of the event, held at Fogle Fine Art & Accessories. In addition to coordinating all of the nuances of the evening, the team was charged with the solicitation of sponsor donations, the compilation of the designer kits and the encouragement of design teams to enter the competition. Due to the success and notoriety of the last three events, local media publications including Jacksonville Magazine and Arbus were present to help spread the word about the event.
At the end of the night, IIDA was honored to present Dignity U Wear with a check for $5000 from sponsorship monies collected from soliciting the event through our local A&D community.
