The Second Chapter: Seven Years, One Runway and the Launch of KORA
From Beauty to Fashion
Seven years ago, I opened the doors to The Skin Lounge Atelier with a philosophy that has never wavered: taking care of women inside and out.
This was never just about beauty. It is about how a woman feels, how she carries herself, her confidence, her wellbeing, and the small rituals that become part of who she is. Skin was simply where we started.
In September 2025, that philosophy walked down a runway.
We gathered at The Neighbor in Fort Collins to celebrate seven years and to introduce something deeply close to my heart: KORA, an exclusive fashion line making its debut with us.
I called the evening The Second Chapter. Not because the first was ending, but because seven years felt like exactly the right moment to begin another.
The Designer Behind KORA
KORA is the brainchild of Hania Saleem, an esteemed fashion designer and curator who runs a boutique fashion house in Lahore, Pakistan.
She also happens to be my younger sister.
For years, our worlds ran in parallel: mine built around caring for women in Fort Collins, hers around fabric, silhouette and design in Lahore.
KORA is where those worlds finally met.
Bringing her vision across continents and onto a runway in my own community made this launch feel less like a business milestone and more like a family one.
Hania designed KORA around a single idea: transition.
These are pieces made to carry a woman from morning into evening, moving through her day without ever asking her to start over.
That fits everything The Skin Lounge Atelier stands for. Caring for a woman means caring for her whole day, inside and out.
From skin to style. From the treatment room to the wardrobe.
A Night at The Neighbor
The Neighbor was transformed for the evening.
Mountainside Events curated every element with remarkable care, from the décor and atmosphere to the food, the runway and the rhythm of the night.
Nothing felt accidental.
Everything felt considered.
Then came the moment we had been waiting for.
Under the direction of William Maestas of MESH Model Management, the models stepped onto the runway and KORA was introduced for the first time.
Hair and makeup by Lauren Shea completed the vision.
The show itself told the story of the collection, carrying the audience from daylight ease into evening elegance, just as Hania designed the pieces to do.
Watching her work move through the room turned an idea born in Lahore into something real in Fort Collins.
Suzanne Simone of Posh Photography captured it all, with Manifest Filmworks preserving the energy on film.
A year later, those images still bring me straight back to that room.
Taking care of women inside and out also means taking care of the community they live in.
The Skin Lounge Atelier exists because this community chose to support it, and seven years in, it was time to return some of that generosity.
I chose CASA of Larimer County, whose advocacy for children and families in our community resonates deeply with me.
Through the KORA launch, we gave $10,000 to their work.
Representatives from CASA joined us that evening, and their presence gave the celebration its center of gravity.
Of everything that night represented, this remains the most meaningful to me.
The best celebrations leave something behind.
Brought Together by Community
If seven years in Fort Collins have taught me anything, it is that the best things grow from relationships.
The evening was made richer by the people and organizations who shared in it.
Their presence and partnership helped make the evening a reflection of the community we wanted to celebrate, bringing fashion, wellness, education, entrepreneurship and purpose into one room.
The People Behind the Evening
A night like this does not happen without an extraordinary team.
Fort Collins
Posh Photography
MESH Model Management
One Year Later
What stays with me is not any single detail, although there were many worth remembering.
The food. The décor. The conversations. The thrill of watching my sister's designs step onto a runway thousands of miles from where they began.
The Skin Lounge Atelier began with skin, but it was never only about skin.
Seven years later, it had grown into a place for wellness, education, connection and caring for women in every sense.
KORA did not mean leaving that world behind.
It meant making the world a little bigger, from Lahore to Fort Collins, and getting to do it with my sister.
One year later, it still feels like the beginning.
With gratitude,
Amna
The Skin Lounge Atelier · Fort Collins
The KORA Launch in Pictures
A look inside the runway, the people and the moments that made The Second Chapter unforgettable.
