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/553637
The Changing FaCe oF Luxury Once confined to a few tony streets, the luxury scene now abounds across Chicago. by seth putnam For decades, Michigan avenue and the adjacent oak street district have been the undisputed centers for fashion and luxury in Chicago. No longer. Though these two districts certainly continue to grow—couture giants Versace and Dior are set to move into the old Urban Outfitters space on Rush Street, amping up the neighborhood's luxe factor even further—opulence is popping up all over the city in areas that once might have been considered hinterland territory. "You talk about the Magnificent Mile [and Oak Street], with those big brands like Gucci, Prada, Burberry, and their massive build-outs, but things are changing," says Rob Wilce, one of the owners of Notre, a menswear and home goods boutique that opened in the Far North Side neighborhood of Andersonville last November. Luxury has always been defined by craftsmanship and price point, but Wilce would contend that it's about rarity and backstory as well. The highly selective shop carries luxe lines—Visvim shirts ($670), Yohji Yamamoto sneakers ($400), Viberg boots ($740)—that are incredibly hard to find not just in other stores in Chicago but globally. Wilce points to Stephan Schneider, a line out of Antwerp, which is available in only a handful of stores across the world. "It has everything to do with Chicago building up and supporting itself," Wilce says. "You walk around the Gold Coast, and it looks like Rodeo Drive." Tastes are evolving, too, argues Greta de Parry, who trained in sculpture at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and now applies her expertise to crafting fine art fur- niture. While luxury brands used to assume that the buyer they needed wasn't here, they're finding eager customers in the Windy City who aren't restricted to professions centered on finance, medicine, or law. "In the last year, locals have become a huge part of my clientele," says de Parry, whose custom pieces include a $10,000 bench crafted from 136 pieces of individually cut and hand-finished hardwood. "It seems like Chicago is cultivating itself." Andrew Perez, who hand-makes precision timepieces that range from $575 to $2,000 in the Fulton River District under the label Astor+Banks, agrees. As the de facto capital of the Midwest, Chicago has long embodied a down-home sensibility and a reluctance to embrace designer labels. But the city is no longer isolated, thanks to the digital world, which has brought down the virtual walls that once made it difficult for shoppers to access new looks and trends. "Little by little it's shedding that skin, that Midwestern reputation," he says. "It's a world-class city that has access to culture." "It has everything to do with Chicago building up and supporting itself. You walk around the Gold Coast, and it looks like Rodeo Drive." —rob wilce do. The jewelry industry in particular has been, should we say, targeted, more than others. It forced the industry in general and then the individual compa- nies to send out the message that this isn't the way we do things. Baxter: Younger generations and particularly the millennials are very interested in sustainable practices and ask a lot of questions about where you're sourcing materials, or how you're producing. All our companies that have been around for 50 to 100 years have to have responsibility, credibility, and follow- through on these topics, because they are going to get more and more important as the customer gets younger and younger. Cirkva: Another aspect of sustainability is an approach we started taking 10 years ago, of buying small artisan [businesses] where the craft itself was in danger of becoming extinct. I think many of you have done the same thing. Mr. Lagerfeld creates the Métiers d'art collection once a year—that only uses those five to six specialist houses. When we think about sustainability long-term, and for all of us, the story of our brand is so much tied to what is unique and special, that giving these people a lifeline, if you will, to continue their craft is what it's about as well. ma Lalique vase "All brands are searching for ways to be relevant to the millennials." —maz zouhair i, ceo and pr esident, lalique north amer ica