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Fashion forward?
Fashion Focus kicks off on Monday 18, so we're looking back at the recent ups and downs in Chicago fashion.
By Jessica Herman
Published: October 13, 2010
Fashion forward?
Marshall Field’s (now Macy’s) glitzy fashion show/fund-raiser predates Fashion Focus by two years. (It originally debuted in Chicago as Fash Bash in 1999.) Each year’s show features celebrity performers (Beyoncé, Cyndi Lauper) and collections by well-known designers such as Marc Jacobs and Jean Paul Gaultier.
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One year after opening its Chicago office, national fashion-centric nonprofit Gen Art showcases a handful of up-and-coming designers (Calvin Tran, Doris Ruth) at the Park West, with Samantha Ronson behind the turntables. The event, which helped launch the careers of designers such as Zac Posen and Rebecca Taylor, becomes one of the most respected shows in the city, known for showing at least one promising new designer (Lara Miller, Shane Gabier and Elise Bergman, to name a few) every year.
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Mayor Daley and the city join forces with local fashion schools, Marshall Field’s, the Apparel Industry Board and a handful of other organizations to spearhead a ten-day fashion celebration in the fall.
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Former lawyer Melissa Turner (now Gamble) is anointed Chicago’s director of fashion arts & events.
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Starting with Lindsey Boland’s now-shuttered boutique Habit in 2005, a handful of shops emphasizing local designers’ wares open around town—from Michelle Tan’s eponymous shop in 2006 to the recent addition of Cerato and Local Lookbook. Whether it’s the national trend for buying local or a growing local infrastructure to support young designers, the shops provide welcome retail outlets.
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The program offers six designers each year the great opportunity of 12 months of workspace and mentoring in design and business know-how. Tommy Hilfiger steps in as master designer in 2009; Lara Miller is hired as the executive director the same year.
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Pete Wentz’s clothing line, Clandestine Industries, headlines the Gen Art runway show, taking a bit of the focus off unknown up-and comers. His Lakeview shop closes in 2009.
Berry is the first designer to host a solo exhibition at Fashion Focus, paving the way for the following year’s shows by Abigail Glaum-Lathbury, Horacio Nieto and Boris Powell.
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The org leaves a hole in the scene, especially for up-and-coming designers.
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Ikram Goldman, owner of Gold Coast haute couture shop Ikram, makes The New York Times for her role as the First Lady’s unofficial stylist. Nice Chicago shout-out but hardly news-breaking regarding Goldman’s sway in the fashion world. Meanwhile, designer Maria Pinto opens up a sprawling shop in the West Loop while basking in the Obama spotlight, only to close due to bankruptcy in 2010. (Photo: Flickr)
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The city offers no word of her replacement, and marketing efforts for the 2010 Fashion Focus falter.
Marshall Field’s (now Macy’s) glitzy fashion show/fund-raiser predates Fashion Focus by two years. (It originally debuted in Chicago as Fash Bash in 1999.) Each year’s show features celebrity performers (Beyoncé, Cyndi Lauper) and collections by well-known designers such as Marc Jacobs and Jean Paul Gaultier.
It's okay to be a show-off.
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