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
TRIBUTE first family of fashion A CHICAGO CLAN WITH AN INTERNATIONAL FASHION PEDIGREE CELEBRATES 90 YEARS IN BUSINESS. BY CHRISTY JAMES B ack in 1922, Margaret Baxter Foster opened the doors of The Lake Forest Shop, giving Chicago's North Shore unprecedented access to the world of high fashion. The socialite brought couture brands like Oscar de la Renta to her small town, offering women stylish suits and separates in a world of dresses. This year, the boutique will celebrate nearly a century in business, and current owner Ellen Stirling (Margaret's grand- daughter) is unveiling big plans for the store's birthday. "This old girl is turning 90, and she's kicking up her heels and having a great time," says Stirling. "This anniversary is giving us the opportunity to move forward." Part of that forward momentum will include a complete revamp of the North Shore boutique. Construction began in July to create a more open floor plan, as well as a back entrance. The spacious sales floor already offers amenities such as oversize dressing areas, but Stirling hopes the renovations will create a better overall flow for the space. "The store will be a lot shinier, brighter, fresher," says Stirling. "When you turn 90, it's time to give yourself a little bit of a nip and tuck." As the third-generation family member in charge, Stirling has seen the store transform and reinvent itself countless times. Now home to brands like Carmen Marc Valvo and Magaschoni, the store's haute couture inventory was once influenced by frequent visits from Stirling's uncle Condé Nast, the founder of Vogue. Stirling recalls a time when the shop sold children's clothing and carried a signature shoe line called Papagallo. "What I learned was that you always have to try new things," she says of the con- stant adjustments. "That' s the way visionary in itself, because she was creating a whole new mode of dressing," The Lake Forest Sports Shop, circa 1957 you've got to look at it, because you'll never know unless you try." Stirling's innovative approach to fashion follows the example first set by her grandmother: Margaret Baxter Foster opened her store as The Lake Forest Sports Shop, a boutique specializing in the sale of structured separates and encourag- ing in di vidual 92 MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM style. "That was says Stirling. Along with maintaining a modern inventory, Stirling's long-term plan for the shop remains simple: Continue to provide a unique shopping experience for the customers who have kept the store thriving for 90 years. So what would Margaret Baxter Foster think if she could see her shop nearly a century after it opened? Stirling says her grandmother might be surprised to find one of her wardrobe staples missing from the inventory. "I would tell her to be brave, but that there were probably no suits in the store," says Stirling with a laugh. "We're still waiting for the comeback of the suit." MA Ellen Stirling's parents, Volney and Adair Foster, in 1972, the year The Lake Forest Shop celebrated its 50th anniversary The exterior of The Lake Forest Shop today " When you turn 90, it's time to give yourself a little bit of a nip and tuck."