CHICAGO — Singer Eric Hutchinson told about 2,000 people attending Macy’s annual Glamorama show and fund-raiser this month that he felt “a little underdressed. I should have worn heels, probably.”
Not to worry. The crowd, though smaller than last year, was enthusiastic, cheering the name Marc Jacobs even before the designer’s men’s wear-influenced pantsuits and oversize knits appeared on the runway.
The event at the Chicago Theatre, which also featured a performance by headliner Macy Gray, raised $205,000 for Ronald McDonald House Charities.
A 1980s vibe ran throughout Glamorama, with neon pink shrugs and neon-pink-and-black-splattered puffy vests from Issey Miyake, not to mention the night’s most dynamic segment, showcasing Macy’s new exclusive collection Material Girl.
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With photos of Madonna on a big screen and dancers mimicking the star and her songs playing in the background, the event felt more like a Madonna concert.
Guests also saw fur in many collections, including SportMax; received a dose of geek-chic from Hugo Boss, with some models wearing bow ties and large square-framed glasses, and showed their love with abundant applause for an ostrich-feather coat by Sonia Rykiel.
After the show, many in the crowd moved to Macy’s on State Street, where the seventh floor was transformed into a party zone. Guests grabbed complimentary truffles from See’s Candies and relaxed in the Office Max lounge and on a sofa bearing blue American Express pillows. Product placement happened during the fashion show as well, when Xbox Dance Central appeared on the screen and dancers performed the moves onstage.
Terry Lundgren, Macy’s chairman, president and chief executive officer, said the Windy City is a key market for the retailer and one that helped Macy’s post better-than-expected second-quarter earnings. He credited exclusives such as Material Girl, Tommy Hilfiger and Ellen Tracy with boosting Macy’s product assortment, as well as the My Macy’s localization initiative.
“We have a completely different mousetrap,” he said. “A lot of our success is due to an organizational structure that’s different than anyplace else.”