Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/461818
CHICAGO HAS ALWAYS BEEN A CITY OF ROBUST CULTURE AND RICH HISTORY. But an epicenter of cool? Not necessarily. A decade ago, if an outsider were asked the coolest things about Chicago, she'd probably mention a few familiar names: Michael. Oprah. Kanye. These days, it's a totally different stor y. Today, the national buzz around our town doesn't surround any single superstar, but the sweeping innovations taking place across major cultural indust ries. Chicago's t rendsetting household names aren't even people anymore—they're ambitious young companies (Groupon), or restaurants (Next), or stages (Steppenwolf ). Take Trunk Club, the Chicago start-up launched in 20 09 as a solution for men who hate to shop. St ylists personally pick items based on an online st yle profi le and ship them directly to consumers. A nything a customer doesn't like, he can return. It's a simple yet classy concept— not unlike our fair cit y. Fast-for ward fi ve years, and the tech/fashion player was bought by Nordst rom for $350 million. Techies in Palo A lto and fashionistas in New York couldn't help but take notice. Chicagoans are thinking differently, rejecting what's comfortable for what's bold, what's safe for what's unexpected. A nd it's paying off. Folks who once might have shrugged off our cit y (those tech and fashion folks, but also fi lmmakers and foodies) are fl ocking here, and as a result, one thing cannot be denied: Chicago has never been so cool. Here, Michigan Avenue takes a look at four cultural spheres where Chicago is chicer t han ever: tech, cuisine, fashion, and t heater. Meet the people who are making waves, fi nd the hottest epicenters in the cit y, and memorize the up-and-coming names that ever yone will be talking about next year.