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/78288
ILLUSTRATION BY DANIEL O'LEARY and Finally . . . I FEUD FOR THOUGHT CHIC-ago DESPITE NEW YORK'S REPUTATION AS AMERICA'S FASHION CAPITAL, CHICAGO HAS BEEN WOWING THE BON TON FOR DECADES WITH OUR ELEGANT ÉLAN AND OUTRÉ INFLUENCE. BY PAIGE WISER n June, Vogue editrix Anna Wintour swooped into Chicago to host a fund-raiser for President Obama at Harpo Studios. She traveled with an entourage that included fashion heavyweights Jason Wu, Rachel Roy, Narciso Rodriguez, Chanel Iman, Thakoon Panichgul, and Prabal Gurung. One accessory she was without: her signature security sunglasses. It could have been a sign of respect for Obama's custom Hart Schaffner Marx suits or for Michelle Obama's championing of the skinny belt. Or maybe it was an official acknowledgment that New York is keeping its fashion eyes open when it comes to its neighbor to the west. Chicago has been nipping at New York's fashion heels since we exported the outrageous styles from native son Florenz Ziegfeld's legendary Follies to its hallowed Broadway stages nearly a century ago. One of the people who helped foster our fashion credentials was Joan Weinstein, who made a cosmopolitan name for herself—and Chicago—when she founded the powerful Ultimo boutique on Oak Street, elevating shopping to an art and illustrating that the City of Big Shoulders wasn't neces- sarily about Dynasty-esque shoulder pads. If it weren't for legendary fashion writer Peg Zwecker, Chicago's Roy Frowick would have tried to launch his label under his original name. It was her suggestion he go with his snappier middle name, Halston, which allowed him to go on to define American style in the '70s and provide a dancing part- ner for Andy and Liza at Studio 54. Eunice Johnson of Ebony magazine redefined the new black, crafting the Ebony Fashion Fair in 1956 and taking it from New York to Jamaica. Often the only black woman in the room at fashion shows in the '60s and '70s, her insight catapulted models like Richard Roundtree into the stratosphere. His starring role in Shaft had no small impact on the '70s fashion scene and its love of Chicago-esque urban style. "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" wasn't from Brooklyn, now was he? In recent years we have continued the tradition of breed- ing some of the most influential tastemakers the world has yet to see. The queen of the avant-garde, Lady Gaga, declared that Chicago's Tavi Gevinson, a 16-year-old blog- ger who advocates retro flash at thestylerookie.com, is "the future" of fashion journalism. So prepare yourselves for a new generation of flower children nurtured in our garden of glam. Chicago's haute couture hothouse is also responsible for gifting the fashion industry with one of its greatest super- models, DeKalb's Cindy Crawford. And Chicago native Karlie Kloss is currently ranked by models.com as the third-most important model internationally. How many New Yorkers are in the top 10 at the site? Zero. And the cur- rent darlings of the fashion world, Shane Gabier and Chris Peters, whose Creatures of the Wind line wowed Wintour and the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund last fall, have raised Chicago's fashion flag still higher. I could go on bragging, but we've run out of room, leaving only one logical conclusion: If you want to experience true style, follow Anna Wintour—to Chicago, that is. Go West, darlings… Midwest. MA 152 MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM Onward!