Last Saturday, I had the honor to be part of the 8th Annual "Fashion With A Passion San Diego" Event & Fashion Show benefiting Make-A-Wish San Diego at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising/FIDM San Diego. This is the second consecutive year that I have been invited to be the "featured designer" in such a wonderful event for a GREAT cause.


Every year, "Fashion With A Passion San Diego" partners with Make-A-Wish San Diego and through its "Fashion Fairies" group, grants wishes to San Diego and Imperial County children battling life-threatening medical conditions.


This year's Wish Child was Kailey, a BEAUTIFUL young girl of ten years old, whose wish was to be "a fashion designer for my favorite Barbie doll"...


As a surprise to her, we found one of my "Project Runway" My Scene Barbie's on the web (from the "Project Runway" Challenge I won back in Season 2), bought it and then gave it to her as a gift...and of course, I signed it especially for her! In addition, Kelly Richardson Pudgil--an FIDM Grad who designs children's clothing--created custom-made dresses for her inspired by my "Barbie" as well as a pink gown I designed for the 50th Anniversary of Barbie Fashion Show at FIDM DEBUT 2009....


In addition to the "Barbie"-inspired mini-theme of the event, I also MC'ed a very special fashion show showcasing some of my very glamorous NIKOLAKI gowns that I especially brought to San Diego for this event...Oh and yes, there was a FANTASTIC Silent Auction with lots of GREAT goodies...as well as a VERY SPECIAL Meet & Greet/Book Signing with my books "A Passion For Fashion" and "The Pageant Coloring Book" (which I personally autographed for anyone who bought the books).
Here are lots of PHOTOS from the WONDERFUL day:

Silent Auction:

NIKOLAKI Gowns Fashion Show:







Book Signing and Meet & Greet:

Last week, I had the privilege of traveling to San Diego for the FIDM San Diego Open House. My Alma Mater, the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, was holding their Open Houses throughout all its four campuses and as a former grad/alumni and Spokesperson for the College, I got to do my "Open House Talk/Presentation" at the San Diego campus. Open House is a chance for anyone interested in a career in fashion design, social media, styling, graphic design, interior design, digital media, apparel business (as well as many more) to tour the campuses, meet instructors, alumni, and get to find out more about what FIDM offers...

In order to travel to San Diego from my home in LA for my appearance, I decided to do something I have never done before in my 30+ years of living in Southern California...TAKE THE TRAIN!!!
Train Happy: When I usually have an appearance at FIDM San Diego, I travel by car with my NIKOLAKI partner David Paul (who happens to be from San Diego) but this time, he couldn't come so I had to travel solo and I didn't want to do the 3+ hour--sometimes more--drive by myself so...I realized "hey, maybe I should take the train!". I took the Amtrak "Pacific Surfliner" train from Los Angeles' Downtown Union Station to Downtown San Diego: It was so relaxing and so nice. I got to read my book, relax and nap...and now, I am a CHANGED MAN!

On my way to the Open House, there was a small street fair in honor of the Chinese Lunar New Year, and I got to snap a photo of this young girl doing something I could NEVER in a million years do:


And now, onto the FIDM Open House February 2017 Appearance:



Following my Talk/Presentation, there was a Meet & Greet of course, where I got to take photos, sign books, and meet some of the wonderful attendees of the FIDM San Diego Open House. One of the BIGGEST HIGHLIGHTS of this was reconnecting with someone I had originally met TEN YEARS AGO:
Before...and Now: Believe it or not, I met the beautiful--and very tall--young lady on the right TEN YEARS AGO, at a "The Learning Annex" seminar I did in San Diego back in the day when I had just been on "Project Runway". Her name is Hannah and she attended the seminar because she was a big fan and she even got my "Project Runway My Scene Barbie" (from the Challenge I won). To my surprise, Hannah was at the FIDM San Diego Open House and showed me the photo and well, I just about cried!

Here are more fun photos from my FIDM San Diego Open House post-Appearance Meet & Greet:
NV Glam Divas: Nick Verreos with FIDM San Diego's Denise Baca and Christina surprised me when I showed up for the FIDM San Diego Open House, wearing my NV Nick Verreos designs they had bought from EVINE Live TV Shopping Network! #LoveThem