Simone Billings Hat Auction
Simone Billings models one of her beautiful hats to be auctioned at XO Prime Steaks in Cleveland on Thursday Sept. 25 to raise money for Cross-Cultural Solutions to improve education for women and children in Morocco and to support her mission trip to teach English in Morocco.
(Raheem Brooks/Eye of Rah Photography)
CLEVELAND, Ohio - "Her 100 Hats," a cocktail reception and silent auction to benefit a nonprofit called Cross-Cultural Solutions, will be held at XO Prime Steaks in Cleveland on Thursday, Sept. 25.
Local style maven Simone Billings, 23, of Warrensville Heights, is supplying the one-of-a-kind, vintage and modern hats. She is the founder of Haute Chapeau, a lifestyle brand she hopes to launch into an online boutique when she returns from Morocco in November.
"Haute Chapeau is geared towards women who are fearlessly chic and unapologetic," she says. "It's for women who pride themselves on being creative, forward thinking and globally aware."
Billings is a graduate of Hathaway Brown in Shaker Heights and has a degree in Fashion Merchandising from Philadelphia University.
Her goal for this auction is to raise money for Cross-Cultural Solutions to improve education for women and children in Morocco and to support her mission trip next month to teach English in Morocco. Cross-Cultural Solutions is a non-profit organization that provides volunteer services to communities abroad in an effort to address critical global issues.
As for the hats, there will be 25 to 35 hats dating as far back as the 1930s. Billings inherited the hats from her late cousin Dorothy Haynesworth, a fellow hat enthusiast. Her goal is to raise $1,600 through the silent auction.
Tickets are $10 and include light hors d'oeuvres, a cash bar, a raffle ticket to win a Haute Chapeau original hat, and a donation to Cross-Cultural Solutions. Space is limited, so purchase advance tickets at her100hats.eventbrite.com.
The event runs from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at XO Prime Steaks at 500 West St. Clair Ave. The hat presentation begins at 6 p.m.
For more information, contact Simone Billings at hautechapeau@yahoo.com or on Instagram at @HauteChapeau.
And, if you plan to attend, wear a great hat of your own.