Sip & Shop Comes to Seattle!

It’s been a long soul-searching journey up to this point, but Kanika Green – “Queen of Fashion” and reigning Northwesterner – is happy to be in Seattle, presenting the second annual Sip & Shop event with partner Samarah Fortson of Janrah Boutique.

sip and shop

Her goal is to make a difference by bringing money back to the community, which is why proceeds from this year’s Sip & Shop at Chapel Bar (July 24th, 6p-10p) are going to Sew Beautiful – a local organization offering youth empowerment programs for young women of color by incorporating fashion and art. The event also brings the focus back to local designers and artists including Otra Vez, Flutterbudget Jewelry, Mac Fashion House, and Cookie Lee among others.

Fashion and art seem to be common themes in Kanika’s life – after graduating from WSU and putting in two years in the corporate world, she realized how important it was to get back to these childhood passions, while still thinking outside the box. She had always been driven to draw and sketch, but she felt that in the very complacent working world that drive gets lost. It’s like running on a hamster wheel, forgetting what you love to do. She had always gone against the grain stylistically, crediting her mom for her fashion sense.

Looking outside her Washington roots, Kanika realized that if you’re going to do fashion you go to New York – the “capital of fashion” here in the US. She applied to the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, where she realized that it was meant to be, as everything began to slide into place. While at FIT she began to flex her career muscles in fashion merchandising and management. She still took time out to mentor – working with BlackGirlsRock Inc, a DJ program set on empowering and broadening the horizons for young women of color. Her motto was simple; work to engage young girls in something that interested them, planting seeds for brighter futures.

School has taught her a lot about business, and the fashion world; especially how everything trickles down the corporate ladder. She understood that the movers and shakers in New York recognized this – for example Michael Kors was incredibly hands-on and pleasant. This taught her to get in, make her mark, and remember that attitude is everything. New York was the experience of a lifetime.

Of her internships, she says,

“It made me realize what kind of a person I was. I left my comforts – my car, my apartment, etc – to follow a passion. I went from comfort to freedom, challenge and obstacles. It taught me how much courage I had to really pursue what I was most passionate about. I learned how to operate with integrity no matter how long the day is or how people talked. I didn’t quit and I continued to persevere. And many times I wanted to throw in the towel, but I didn’t. I left with a New York state-of-mind: Keep going and power through. It’s much easier to be in your comfort zone than to step out of that. It makes you realize that everything does happen the way it should.”

And it’s that drive and passion she’s brought to Seattle for the Sip & Shop events.

Kanika and Samarah both went to school together and then left the Pacific Northwest, only to reunite here again to incorporate fashion, community, and networking. The first Sip & Shop event was held at Waids last year, as a benefit for the Umoja Peace Center. Kanika and Samarah planned the event from scratch – from start to finish with no street team to help; the biggest challenge was to make the dream a reality. Kanika smiles when she talks about their first event, recalling their success with over 75 attendees, and a number of artfully hand-picked vendors.

This year they’ve stepped up the scale, bringing in twice the number of vendors to Capitol Hill’s hip digs. Working with Chapel Bar, Kanika and Samarah have an even more exciting event planned this year, including VIP goodies and the fashion show presented by Mac Fashion House (8p). The event will offer a fantastic combination of music, art, fashion and community, and the venue couldn’t be more perfect. Each vendor is meticulously hand-picked, Chapel will offer appetizers and cocktails, DJ Topspin will provide the music, and guests are invited to relax, to Sip & Shop.