CHICAGO — Can the Windy City improve its fashion reputation and keep design talent from fleeing to the coasts?
Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley thinks so. Daley has put his clout and resources behind boosting the city’s fashion and retail presence with a trio of recent initiatives — creating a Chicago Fashion Advisory Council, naming a full-time Director of Fashion Arts and Events and growing Fashion Focus 2006, a 10-day fall fashion festival of fashion events, runway shows and seminars.
“Over the last several years, Chicago has begun to emerge as a center of creativity in fashion design,” Daley said. “More and more designers are setting up shop here, rather than rushing off to New York.”
Keeping fashion designers local adds a certain élan and elevates the city’s economy, he said.
“They add excitement and flair,” Daley said. “They attract attention from around the nation and around the world. And they create jobs.”
Dorothy Fuller, president of the Apparel Industry Board Inc., said that according to a study by World Business Chicago, about 16,000 people are employed in the apparel industry in Chicago. They work for a variety of manufacturers and designers of uniforms and sportswear, as well as children’s apparel and women’s eveningwear, she said.
Over the years, Chicago has changed from a hub for some 200 women’s wear manufacturers that operated factories in the Fifties (Henry-Lee & Co. is one of the sole survivors) to the home of dozens and dozens of smaller entrepreneurial businesses today.
“There are more young designers than I’ve been aware of in business in Chicago,” Fuller said. “There really does seem to be a renaissance in the industry. There are lots of new ideas, new designers, new talent, new excitement.”
In fact, the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs has identified more than 200 independent local designers of women’s and men’s apparel, children’s apparel and accessories. Most cannot afford to go offshore, Fuller said, and produce in and around Chicago.
The retail industry, meanwhile, also continues to thrive. For example, there are more than 80 independently owned boutiques in the city’s hip Wicker Park/Bucktown area, according to the Wicker Park/Bucktown Chamber of Commerce. And North Michigan Avenue alone has 3.3 million square feet of retail space, according to the Greater North Michigan Avenue Association.
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Daley has asked the Fashion Advisory Council, a collection of 19 veteran and emerging designers, retailers and fashion industry leaders, to look into ways to consolidate, centralize and build local industry resources, retain and support new and established designers and help design students as they transition from school to career.
“With four college fashion design programs, Chicago is continually being presented with new talent,” said Melissa Turner, the city’s new Director of Fashion Arts and Events. “Designers are among our city’s great cultural assets.”
Orlando Espinoza, who lived in Los Angeles for some 30 years working as an apparel designer before moving to Chicago six years ago, agrees. Espinoza, who cochairs the Fashion Advisory Council, believes Chicago will become a force to be reckoned with now that its designers have come together.
“The opportunity here is unlimited for aspiring and veteran designers but it will take time for people to realize this,” he said. “They think it’s the Midwest and people have the stereotype that fashion cannot exist here. It’s just a matter of time before you see things fall into place and people will become excited by what we’re trying to do.”
Before the council was created, most designers worked on their own with little networking, he said. “We never integrated,” Espinoza explained. “We were scattered. There are a lot of people in the industry here, but nobody knew who was who. Now we feel we have enough ammunition to make an impact. Once we make some progress, we’re going to convince everyone that we can make this city stand out not only nationally but internationally.”
Specifically, the council plans to oversee construction of a city fashion Web site for the industry and consumers, coordinate business education programs for students and designers and connect manufacturers, sales reps and designers, Turner said.
“We want to keep those skilled workers here and in business,” said Turner, who earned a law degree and bachelor’s degree in fashion and marketing and has worked with Gen Art Chicago, the Chicago Merchandise Mart’s Fashion Office and the Chicago Office of Tourism.
Chicago has much to gain by ensuring this segment of local commerce remains healthy.
“There’s a huge retail sector here,” Turner noted, “and shopping is the number-one tourist activity in Chicago.”
To promote both retail and fashion, the city last year hosted its first annual fall fashion festival, called Fashion Focus. Highlights included Gen Art Chicago’s Fresh Faces in Fashion; the unveiling of Marshall Field’s Chicago Designer Boutique, which featured work from local designers; projects involving the city’s design students, and an assortment of industry seminars and events.
“The response to Fashion Focus was just overwhelmingly positive,” Turner said. In particular, the industry seminars addressing building and financing a design business sold out. “They were packed with students and young designers,” she said. “The demand for that kind of information was huge.”
The city plans to expand the 2006 festival, which runs from Sept. 20 to Oct. 1, to include more, larger seminars, more fashion shows such as the Apparel Industry Board’s “Chicago Is…Red Hot!” as well as including Gen Art Chicago’s Fresh Faces in Fashion and the opening of a new Chicago Designer Boutique at what will then be the Marshall Field’s flagship converted to Macy’s nameplate.
Turner, meanwhile, has been impressed by the number of fashion industry insiders, from business owners to stylists and photographers, offering their services pro bono or at reduced rates.
“There’s overwhelming support from this industry from every angle,” she said.