A Week Long Showcase of Chicago’s Fashion Industry
Monday, October 15 – Sunday, October 21
CHICAGO, 2012-08-30 — /travelprnews.com/ — Fashion Focus Chicago 2012 returns for its eighth year October 15-21 for a week-long celebration of Chicago’s thriving fashion industry while showcasing some of its top designers. Highlights include three headlining runway shows in Millennium Park and fashion events at various locations around the city. Fashion Focus will feature a variety of free and affordable industry happenings, shopping and designer events.
The City’s fashion initiative supports and promotes independent fashion boutiques and fashion designers living and working in Chicago. The theme this year for Fashion Focus Chicago is You saw it on the runway, now buy it! In addition to showcasing the talented fashion industry, patrons are encouraged to purchase what they like directly through designers websites and at independent boutiques not only during the event, but year round.
“The City of Chicago is an incubator for creativity with more than 400 local designers and 300 independent boutiques”, said Commissioner Michelle T. Boone. “The talented designers and industry professionals featured throughout Fashion Focus are a tremendous asset to the City. With a week dedicated to fashion centric events, we celebrate and encourage continued growth in one of the cities burgeoning creative sectors.”
Monday, October 15, Fashion Focus Chicago will highlight Chicago’s fashion design schools at Dress Code in the Chicago Cultural Center beginning at 7:00 p.m. This premiere runway show will spotlight the rising fashion stars from Columbia College Chicago, the Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago, International Academy of Design and Technology-Chicago and The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Catch the debut of creative student designers with award-winning styles representing their best work and originality. The show is free and a reservation is required for tickets.
Millennium Park Headlining Runway Shows
Fashion Focus 2012 will feature three headlining runway shows in Millennium Park showcasing some of Chicago’s top local talent. These highly anticipated shows begin each evening at 7:30 p.m. and have a general admission price of $35 and $95 for VIP, which includes a pre-party at 6:00 p.m. and preferred seating. For more information on how to reserve your spot by purchasing tickets visit www.fashionfocuschicago.org.
On Wednesday, October 17, The Macy’s Chicago Fashion Incubator Runway Show will kick off the headlining shows in Millennium Park. The Chicago Fashion Incubator at Macy’s on State Street is a not-for-profit organization that supports new and emerging Chicago-based designers allowing them to showcase their talent on the stage of Fashion Focus. The six current designers in residence will feature their spring 2013 collections and will be joined by a select group of CFI alumni to highlight the talent in Chicago’s fashion community at their fashion show.
The runway shows continue on Thursday, October 18 with “Fashion Takes Flight” Presented by Mario Tricoci Hair Salons & Day Spas and vitaminwater®. The show will feature collections from local designers including Imaginary People, J. Cheikh, Shelby Steiner and Azza, and serve as the conclusion to the Fifth Annual Mario, Make Me a Model competition, a program that provides local model hopefuls with the training and platform they need to start their career. The winner of Mario, Make Me a Model will be revealed at the end of the show, after the competition’s five finalists have completed their last challenge walking the runway among professional models.
StyleChicago.com will present the 4th season of The Art of Fashion 2012 as part of Fashion Focus Chicago in Millennium Park on Friday, October 19. This runway show will preview contemporary to couture Spring 2013 collections of accomplished Chicago designers and fashion lines, including: Barbara Bates, Borris Powell, Eva Pazola, Michael Alan Stein, Michelle Tan, Nade Baer, Ruchika Singh, Shalini Sharma, Shernett Swaby and Lara Miller.
Presented by the Mayor’s Fashion Council, Industry Day on Sunday, October 21 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Chicago Cultural Center will offer a full day of panel discussions around reaching new heights in the fashion industry for emerging and established designers. Of note is the Première Vision Colour Trend Testing Presentation at 3:30 p.m. This audio-visual presentation will discuss fashion information and trend forecasting for fall-winter ‘13-‘14. All Industry Day events are free but require a reservation for tickets.
Fashion Focus Chicago 2012 is presented by the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. For more information call (312) 744-3316 or visit www.fashionfocuschicago.org. You can also join the conversation on Facebook and receive updates on Twitter: @FashionFocus.
###
Visit www.fashionfocuschicago.org for a complete schedule.
Mary May 312.744.0576 mmay@cityofchicago.org