After more than a decade, Chicago Fashion Week is being held again with the support of the city.
To kick off the event, The Curio will host a group runway show titled “A Celebration of Chicago Style” at the Chicago Cultural Center on Wednesday night. Eight designers will attend, including Maria Pinto and Barbara Bates, who first dressed Michelle Obama 20 years ago. Before the models hit the runway, the first annual Ceta Walters Emerging Fashion Creator Award will be presented. The annual $10,000 prize is in memory of fashion and travel blogger Ceta Walters, who died last year.
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Approximately 50 events will be held in different neighborhoods across the city between Wednesday and October 20. According to Ian Gerard, co-founder and director of The Curio, CFW was designed as a decentralized fashion week without a single main venue due to the city being so spread out. . Exhibitions, clothing changes, styling sessions and fashion shows will be part of CFW. “One of the things that sets Chicago apart from other fashion weeks is that almost all of the events are open to the public through tickets or RSVPs,” Gerard said. “This really presents an opportunity for Chicagoans who have a curiosity or interest in fashion. If you go to the Chicago Fashion Week website, it lists what’s happening and where each day. It also links to the organization organizing the event, so you can find out how to buy tickets or RSVP .”
During CFW, Fashion Group International will bring back the Rising Star Awards for Chicago on October 15 at the Palmer House. Additionally, a panel titled “Tech Couture: The Future of Fashion and Technology” will be held on October 17.
“Costume Council Golden Jubilee: Celebrating 50 Years of Chicago Fashion” will debut at the Chicago History Museum on October 18. The Asian Fashion Show is planned for October 12 at Chicago’s Wilson Convent, and Runway Latinx will hold a show at Cinecity Studios on October 19. Schools in the area also participate in CFW with different types of programs, such as Dominican University. The alumni fashion show is on October 18.
Those attending Wednesday’s opening night show, presented by Abercrombie & Kent, will also see the elegance of rising stars like Sheila Rashid and Gente Fina, who attended New York Fashion Week in February, and fashion designer Chelsea B. in unique knitwear. The youngest in the field is Alex McDermott, a 2022 graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, who runs I Am Studios.
Another designer on the list is Christina Karin, whose industry is more focused on luxury and casual wear.
Interdisciplinary talent Justin Dougan-LeBlanc, whose work includes 3D Print Design installations, will showcase looks from his Justin Leblanc Design series.
Designers in “A Celebration of Chicago Style” will each send 10 looks down the runway to give guests a good idea of the variety of creatives and fashion the city has to offer.
According to Gerard, The Curio, which was launched with Maggie Gillette in April 2022, is an organization entirely about Chicago fashion. Gerard said The Curio set out from the beginning to “unite the city’s fashion community, which was in a really bad place, not only because of the pandemic, but also because the city stopped funding CFW in 2014.”
During her starring role at Gen Art, which moved from Manhattan to Chicago with her husband in 2020, she noted how the fashion scene was “really going downhill,” based on previous visits to the city. From 1994 to March 2012, Gerard served as co-founder and chief executive officer of Gen Art, which highlighted emerging creators and galvanized brands through consumer interest in art and culture, as well as lifestyle.
The initial goal was to bring together the streetwear community and members of the Gold Coast charity gala fashion circuit with The Curio. Showcasing the best of Chicago-based talent and raising awareness of Chicago fashion resources were two other goals. According to Gerard, who also spoke about the need to raise the profile of Chicago fashion on a regional and national level, it was crucial to raise awareness among Chicagoans so they could support local talent.
Gerard said “hundreds” of designers work in Chicago, including designers who work small quantities or have their own stores. For consumers, he said, that might mean buying something that has only 10 units instead of 10,000.
“Chicago fashion is an example of the global trend away from fast fashion. “There have always been much more special and smaller batches,” Gerard said, adding that production was limited. “This is more of an entrepreneurial thing. No big fashion brands [based here.] “People learn fashion on their own because they don’t come from a big fashion house.”
Earlier this week, celebrity stylist Law Roach discussed the impact his hometown of Chicago has had on his career in a conversation with Fern Mallis on 92Y. Virgil Abloh also settled in Chicago in the early years of his career. According to Gerard, many locals bring their Chicago roots with them as they move to other cities. “Chicago is definitely a different environment. “There is no fashion machine that you can get into and work for someone for five years and start your own brand,” he said.
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