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Last week, ten emerging fashion designers showcased their talent during the Chicago Fashion Foundation’s 5th annual Future of Chicago fashion show event at the Chicago Cultural Center. This year's theme, "Street Style: Chicago Fashion through Chicago Communities," challenged the fashion students to create looks inspired by Chicago.

One of the night's highlights was the host Corri McFadden, founder of eDrop-Off and star of Vh1's new reality show "House of Consignment." I was also pleased to see Chicago's luminary fashionistas, including Chicago Tribune social columnist Candace Jordan, former Project Runway contestant Peach Carr, and Akira owner Erikka Wang, judging the show.

This year's design student contestants were the School of the Art Institute students Kara Fenoglietto, Elaine Hoang, Tosha Sherman, Michelle Castellano, Kendel Kennedy and Crystale Crubaugh; Illinois Institute of Art students Elizabeth Leukuma, Raven Norman and Stacie Randall, as well as Elena Bobysheva of Columbia College.

While I was excited about seeing the pieces the young designers created, I was really captivated by the beautiful design of the venue. The Chicago Cultural Center never disappoints! Given the event's theme, I believe it was quite fitting to have the showcase at a location where the city's cultures converge.

The participating fashion design students created innovative pieces that brought street wear to the runway. I was amazed at the maturity in terms of overall look and construction that some of the designers displayed. The students presented looks representative of the signature street style of local Chicago neighborhoods such as Rogers Park, Chinatown, Andersonville and Ukrainian Village.

Congratulations to Columbia College student Elena Bobysheva for winning the 1st place $5,000 prize for her winning look inspired by Ukrainian Village (pictured above). Everything about Bobysheva's design was right! From the midnight black deep v-neck blouse to the cobalt blue thigh-high split, the entire looked worked and illustrated the cultural vibe of Ukrainian Village. I loved it!