In a move applauded by local designers, Chicago’s fashion week, known as Fashion Focus, will for the first time in its five-year history coincide with Stylemax, the area’s largest women’s apparel market.
And if Melissa Gamble, the city’s director of fashion arts and events, is correct, buyers flocking to Stylemax this weekend may find some new resources produced by some local under-the-radar designers participating in Fashion Focus, which runs today through Sunday.
“The talent here is underestimated,” said Gamble, who helps organize the four-day fashion fest, which includes three headlining runway shows at Millennium Park, shopping events, trunk shows, fashion presentations by local designers and industry seminars.
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Although Fashion Focus, for the most part, has been more of a consumer event, organizers have attempted to draw a stronger industry element, namely regional buyers, by scheduling its dates to coincide with Stylemax.
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“We’re definitely doing some outreach [to buyers],” Gamble said. “We definitely want to let them know we’re here.”
In turn, Gamble says there might be last-minute seating for buyers looking to attend the evening shows, which include:
• Tonight: “Macy’s Presents the Designers of Chicago,” featuring designers whose work is sold at Macy’s on State Street or who participate in the Chicago Fashion Incubator.
• Friday: “Dress Code,” a collection of looks from top students at the city’s four design schools.
• Saturday: “Gen Art’s Fresh Faces in Fashion,” which highlights emerging local women’s and men’s apparel and accessory lines.
• Sunday: “Vert Couture: An Evening of Fabulous Eco-Fashion and Environmental Responsibility,” which showcases an assortment of eco-friendly lines including Lara Miller, Frei Designs and Mountains of the Moon.
Meanwhile, some designers are also hosting their own events, like School of the Art Institute graduate Abigail Glaum-Lathbury, who was named Fashion Group International of Chicago’s Rising Star for apparel. In all, Fashion Focus 2009 is a condensed, somewhat scaled back version of last year’s eight-day affair, which was kicked off by Fall Out Boy bassist and designer Pete Wentz and attracted standing-room-only crowds of more than 1,000 to the headlining runway shows.
For more information, times and locations, visit chicagofashionresource.com/events and e-mail Gamble at fashioninvite@gmail.com for reservations.
— B.W.