“Life is hard. Shopping should not be.”

These are the wise words of the impeccably dressed Stephanie Sack, owner of two Bucktown boutiques, Vive La Femme and Violette. The former is a clothing shop for ladies sizes 12-24 and the latter a women’s shoe shop for sizes 7-11.  The stores are run by Stephanie and full-time manager Amanda Johanson who also designs a Vive La Femme clothing line. Vive La Femme is celebrating its tenth anniversary, an accomplishment for a small business in the current economic climate.

“It feels pretty amazing. And I think I’m just very stubborn,” Sack says. Read the rest of this entry »

Walking south on Michigan Avenue, past a set of tall, greenish windows that flash and reflect the chaos of the street, you may feel inexplicably like a peeping Tom. But if you turn to face the windows at 618 South Michigan, and peer past the wooden-slat blinds, you’ll realize why:  A number of mannequins in various states of undress, their bras and girdles and stockings peeking out from clothing half on and half off, make up the exhibit “Undressed: Women’s Unmentionables of the 1950s and 60s,” put on by Columbia College Chicago and the Historical Society of Oak Park and River Forest. Most of the garments come from Columbia’s extensive fashion study collection, a teaching resource that includes more than 6,000 diverse pieces. As is evident by their display on this busy stretch of Michigan Avenue, these undergarments are no longer unmentionable.

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Here’s the press release from the city with the complete FFC schedule for this fall.

FASHION FOCUS CHICAGO 2011

MONDAY, OCTOBER 17 THROUGH SUNDAY, OCTOBER 23

Final schedule of events for the seventh annual celebration of Chicago’s fashion industry

Fashion Focus Chicago, a week-long celebration of Chicago’s thriving fashion industry taking place Monday, October 17 through Sunday, October 23, showcases some of the city’s top designers and features runway shows in Millennium Park and at various locations around the city, plus a variety of free and affordable shopping and designer events and industry happenings. The week’s activities are coordinated and directed by the Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture (COTC) in partnership with the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. Read the rest of this entry »

Fourteen half-naked men roamed the streets of Chicago last week trying to take your suits. Men’s Wearhouse used the day of debt-ceiling talk specifically to highlight the problem of unemployment and promote its month-long National Suit Drive by sending out models cloaked only in boxers and armed with signs asking the public to “Give the Suit Off Your Back.” “Utilizing these visual tools is a lighthearted approach to bringing attention to such a serious issue,” says Julie Town, director of corporate giving at Men’s Wearhouse. The suits provide a key element of beating unemployment: having something to wear to interviews. Although the suit drive happens at locations all over the U.S. throughout the month of August, only select cities hosted the promotional event. Read the rest of this entry »

The British are coming, indeed! With over 300 stores in the UK and more than 100 international locations, the British women’s retail clothing giant Topshop (along with its other half for men, Topman) is moving into Chicago on Michigan Avenue in September. In honor of its impending arrival, Space519, one of the retailers in the 900 North Michigan shops, is hosting a two-month-long Topman pop-up shop inside its store.

Space519 opened the Topman pop-up store (or as they call it, shop-in-shop) at the beginning of June, and it will stay there through the end of July. “We’re launching this to get everyone excited,” says Jim Wetzel, co-owner of Space519. The store will receive new styles of Topman every week that are exclusive to the States. Right now, Wetzel says, the style is more focused and conservative, “but it gets funkier as the summer goes on.”

Just like at Space519, which sells ready-to-wear, books, furniture, apothecary and more, Topman merchandise will vary greatly at its temporary home. The first round of styles has a 1970s dandy British flair and includes vintage Timex watches, a navy suit, floral button-down shirts, camouflage jackets and ties, classic pocket squares and cardigans, and even a pair of mid-thigh-length swim trunks with a California and Hawaii surfer dude vintage postage-stamps print.

“Since the collection is so vast, we can really bring a lot in,” Wetzel says. “We have everything from swim trunks to suits.” Wetzel says he is particularly fond of the suits Topman offers, which cost only around $250. But, his personal favorite in Topman’s stock is their shoes, which he says are “especially cool.” He also says the floral button downs feel really British and fresh—a little bit dandy and a little bit rock ‘n’ roll. Read the rest of this entry »

As much of Chicago sleeps on a Thursday night, Vertigo Sky Lounge is abuzz. High above the city, its inhabitants are paradoxically “digging the underground.” RAW Natural Born Artists, an independent country-wide arts organization that selects and provides a platform for independent creatives, is holding one of its grassroots showcases, one of seventeen such events held around the country each month to spotlight new talent.

A DJ spins in a buzzing corner of the room. Photographs, drawings and paintings cover the glass walls, and the crowd, well-dressed friends of the artists and guests from Art Chicago, appear to be suspended above the city lights. A little after 10pm, the crowd is asked to part and form a path for the upcoming fashion show. Ariya Sasaki, a University of Chicago student in the Geographical Studies department, is about to debut her Spring/ Summer Collection, which will include t-shirts that she has designed for Japan Relief—she was born in Kyoto and raised in Berkeley. “This collection is very much inspired by what is happening in Japan—thinking about global energy and being more conscious of how fabric and textiles are constructed,” she’d said over coffee earlier. “I am writing my B.A paper on fair-trade fashion.” Sasaki is also the co-founder and director of JAPAN Relief and Rebuild committee, and found her fashion feet in MODA (the UofC’s fashion organization), where she is artistic director.

It was at their annual fashion show in the Cultural Center that Sasaki’s designs were first spotted by RAW. “I was so surprised [that they chose me]. I feel like Chicago has so many art students and people who actually study fashion,” she says. “All my models are U of C students and U of C grads. I think it’s really great that I’m able to involve so many people who wouldn’t necessarily be part of the fashion world.” (Lauren Kelly-Jones)

As an English girl on this side of the pond, two things came to mind amidst the hullabaloo over the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, now the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge: first, vicious jealousy because Kate stole my favorite prince and, second, how on earth was one to properly celebrate in America?

Over here, just a hop, skip and transatlantic flight from Buckingham Palace, local “wedding guests” gathered a few hours after the very early morning nuptials for an afternoon tea. The Four Seasons Hotel hosted “Crumpets and Couture: A Royal Wedding Fashion Tea” to celebrate the happy couple and give us an occasion to dress up, in our hats, just like the Brits.

The seventh-floor Seasons restaurant was filled to the brim as Royal Wedding footage streamed on two flat-screen televisions beneath the chandeliers, beautifully clothed women (and three very nice men) sat at little tables and sipped rosé champagne, tea and ate delicacies inspired by Will and Kate’s palates. Petite scones, sticky toffee tea bread, smoked salmon and caviar sandwiches, toasted crumpets and chocolate petits fours were nestled among other hors d’oeuvres on white china stands. Fit for a King, eh? Read the rest of this entry »

Rows and rows of artisans line the walls of a local rock club on a sun-drenched Saturday afternoon at the craft market series known as Urban Folk Circuit. It’s a labyrinth of creativity filled with rings made out of buttons, hand-painted china, jewelry made from beer bottles, knitted purses and scarves, photography, prints, soap, paper goods and much more.

Local artist Mary Lee Banie makes handmade classic purses out of vintage fabrics she finds at thrift stores. Banie says today is a slow day for her but she still manages to hand out a lot of business cards to people perusing the market. “Compared to the [craft markets] I’ve done in the past, this is a much younger crowd, which is good for me and I know a lot of the vendors here are saying the same thing,” Banie says.

Jess Duff and Kelli Wefenstette, old hands in the independent craft community, initiated this year-round craft market series. Duff says the idea for Urban Folk Circuit came about last summer when she and Wefenstette were doing summer shows. “Those summer shows are so long and it lasts all weekend. We wanted something shorter and easier that could go on throughout the year.” Read the rest of this entry »

By Nicole Briese

Monday marks the beginning of local fashion mavens’ favorite time of the year: Fashion Focus Chicago. While the Second City’s version of fashion week may not boast the allure of similarly dedicated weeks in New York, Paris or Milan, Chicago’s efforts to bring fashion to the forefront of the community have definitely become a highlight in recent years. Exciting shows from known and up-and-coming designers alike combined with shopping events and seminars designed to celebrate the industry have given us something to look forward to mid-October for the last five years running.

But changes wrought by the economy and even bigger uncertainty about the city’s future political lineup beg the question: what will become of Chicago’s fashion scene? With the demise of Gen Art in May, along with the city’s well-publicized economic woes, rumors started circulating that Fashion Focus Chicago might not even take place this year. After all, Gen Art sponsored one of the event’s most anticipated shows with Fresh Faces in Fashion Chicago; who would be there to take their place in the lineup? The rumor mill churned again when Chicago’s first and only director of Fashion Arts & Events, Melissa Gamble stepped down not long after. But the city’s fashion imperative has been a pet project of Mayor Daley, so when he surprised everyone by announcing that his current term, ending in 2011, would be his last, questions about the future came into stark relief. And what about the loss of some of the city’s most renowned names in retail and design? The doors to high-profile gems like Maria Pinto, Ultimo and Jake began to close as economic casualties in the last year, leaving in their wake the question: was Chicago’s nascent fashion industry fashion doomed before it could ever reach its full potential? Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s the press release from the city with the complete FFC schedule for this fall.

FASHION FOCUS CHICAGO 2010

MONDAY, OCTOBER 18 THROUGH SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24

FULL SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Fashion Focus Chicago, a celebration of Chicago’s thriving fashion industry, returns for a sixth year in 2010. Running from Monday, October 18 through Sunday, October 24 Fashion Focus Chicago showcases some of the city’s top designers, and features runway shows in Millennium Park and at various locations around the city, shopping events, and industry seminars. To make a reservation for an event or for general information, please visit www.chicagofashionresource.com.

This year, the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs is expanding its partnership with the industry to help market and produce the runway shows taking place in MillenniumPark. Fashion Focus Chicago 2010 is a collaboration with the headlining show producers: Macy’s and the Chicago Fashion Incubator; Mario Tricoci; StyleChicago.com; and the city’s four fashion design schools: Columbia College Chicago, the Illinois Institute of Art – Chicago, the International Academy of Design & Technology Chicago, and the School of the Art Institute Chicago.

“Fashion in Chicago is evolving and it is exciting to see a wide range of businesses involved with the industry—from a national department store along with a local nonprofit, major beauty brand, the four fashion design schools, and an on-line media outlet—more invested and involved in the City’s efforts to support the local designers and independent boutiques in Chicago,” stated Mayor Richard M. Daley.

Below, please find a full schedule of events taking place Monday, October 18 through Sunday, October 24, 2010. Read the rest of this entry »