Our Team

Anna is a Chicago Fashion Incubator (CFI) alumna and experienced fashion design who joined the CFI as Director of Programming and Mentorship in 2018. She is responsible for managing all programming for CFI's designers during their two-year residences and is also working to launch CFI's new public programming initiative, which will produce public events to help educate and encourage fashion design talent and fashion entrepreneurship in Chicago. Anna served as a Design Mentor and Director of Programming with CFI prior to accepting her current position, and is thrilled to expand her leadership role within the organization.

Nora is a Chicago Fashion Incubator (CFI) alumna and a fashion business consultant specializing in local apparel manufacturing. Since pivoting from her own fashion line, she has focused her work on clothing production. Nora assists the designers-in-residence with navigating the production process and connecting them with manufacturers including sewers, digitizers, cutters, and fabric reps. She also does seminars on tech packs, flat sketches, sales strategies, and size charts.

Jamie Hayes’ interests lie at the intersection of fashion, art, labor, and identity. Her approach is both collaborative and customized. She believes that clothes should fit one’s body (not the other way around); that style is a form of self-expression; and that everyone in the chain of production of clothing should be paid a living wage. She is the owner and designer of slow fashion line Production Mode, and former co-designer of luxury slow fashion lingerie and nightwear collection, Department of Curiosities.

As a current independent fashion designer in Chicago, Jamie helps the designers-in-residence navigate the local fashion scene and gives them advice on assortment, fabrications, and aesthetic.