by Valeria Fanelli –

Mario Tricoci, an hair industry icon in North America, hosted the event “Fashion Takes Flight” at Millennium Park Tent, on Oct. 18.

The runway show featured the collections of local designers including Imaginary People, J. Cheikh, Shelby Steiner, Azza and C. Dahlstedt. The show also served as the grand finale of the fifth annual Mario, Make Me a Model program.

This year’s winner Caroline Mazurek was revealed after the competition’s five finalists completed their final challenge: Walking the runway among professional models.

Mazurek celebrated the victory with a modeling contract that will make her start an exciting career as a model.

Mazurek lives in the Chicago area, loves Chicago style deep dish pizza–that sounds like a not pizza for Italians– and gets her modeling inspiration from Heidi Klum.

Fashion Takes Flight showed was presented by Kate Sullivan, CBS2 News Anchor.

The event was another celebration of Italian excellence in the world.

Tricoci is a symbol of beauty in Chicago and all over the U.S. His name is an icon of the hair industry. He’s an Italian who built an empire of salons and founded the Tricoci University, a school that represents a new concept of learning for hair and esthetic students.

Watch the runway’s pictures on Notizie Chicago’s Flickr page.