Chicago is renowned for its deep-dish pizza, architecture and neighborhoods, though some people forget about its fashion scene. Some Chicago Fashion Week organizers said they want to celebrate the threads that make up the city’s cloth.
This fall, the 12-day fashion event will make its debut Oct. 9-20 across the Chicago area. It will take inspiration from the countless city styles and define a ‘new look’ through clothing collections, educational opportunities, awards, gala celebrations and more.
Pam Kendall, co-owner of Evanston-based boutique cloth + home, is hosting a fashion show of her own in light of the week called “Threaded Stories — A Runway Show of Distinctive Fashion” on Oct. 13. This show will highlight nine local designers, their stories and how they ended up settling in Chicago to create fashion.
“There is a tremendous amount of talent here coming from independent designers,” Kendall said.
Chicago-based designers generally produce their own clothing or source outside of Chicago. In recent years though, many Chicago-based clothing manufacturers who rely on the fashion industry for business have struggled due to many brands sourcing overseas for production, Kendall said.
Kendall said she hopes the attention of Chicago Fashion Week will shine a spotlight on the local garment production industry within the city.
Other fashion capitals that house acclaimed fashion weeks, including New York, London, Milan and Paris, all have a defining style that encapsulates the city’s aesthetic. For instance, New York has a streetwear aesthetic and London is known to be business casual.
Chicago’s style, on the other hand, is intersectional, undefined by one style, Medill senior Anna Souter said.
“I love Chicago fashion in general because there’s no one way to define it,” Souter said.
With Chicago Fashion Week approaching fast, she said it’s up to student fashion organizations, like STITCH Magazine and UNITY Charity Fashion Show, to inform students of the events.
Yet her one hope is for the fashion week to highlight the novelty of Chicago.
“Fashion Week is different in every place it exists. And so it should be unique to Chicago,” Souter said.
Medill sophomore Keya Soni Chaudhuri said many people don’t take smaller-scale fashion weeks seriously, especially compared to New York Fashion Week.
However, she said this isn’t necessarily negative.
“Chicago is a place where it’s really easy to sign up to walk for Chicago Fashion Week, to attend and just a feeling of a smaller, more accessible space for fashion folks,” Chaudhuri said.
Chaudhuri, a model for Freedom Models and Select Model Management, said it’s logical for Chicago to have a fashion week, especially because the city has a lot of commercial connections, including offices, retail stores and industrial complexes.
Chaudhuri said she hopes that marginalized communities will be recognized during the event.
“Chicago really has the opportunity to bring light to a lot of otherwise underrepresented communities, and I hope that that is something that we see this fashion week in the future,” Chaudhuri said.
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