The faces behind Portland Fashion Week: Kayla Rekofke
Quite recently I sat down on a very rainy afternoon with Kayla Rekofke, Assisant to the Executive Producers at PFW, to discuss over coffee just what she loves about the Portland Fashion Scene, and what she does when she’s not working on the upcoming 2011 Portland Fashion Week. 
Kayla and Chris Cone at PFW 2010
Kayla’s known around these parts as fun and charming as she is hard working. Her vernacular is full of partial words like “totes”, “fab”, and my personal favorite reserved for when she’s talking about Lady Gaga…”the Gags”.
This year will be Kayla’s second PFW, having first scored her assistant job last May after an extensive interview process. She’s currently a senior studying Fashion Marketing at the Art Institute of Portland. Having started out at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in LA, she felt a pull to the originality of Portland designers. “Portland designers can do it all. Design, sew, marketing. You have to have the chops to make it [in Portland].”
Kayla couldn’t speak highly enough about PFW Executive Producers Tito Chowdhury and Chris Cone. “They’re two of the most supportive people I’ve met in the fashion scene. They give opportunity to people who work hard for it. That means so much.”
Portland Fashion Week is built on a community of people vibrant in personality and tremendously committed to fashion… but it wouldn’t be the same without Kayla. Am I sure about that? Totes.
- Bree Perry.
Kayla’s Heavy Rotation: Heart of Gold - Neil Young.
