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/861960
Mugsy Jeans Founder Leo Tropeano wears the slim fit "squid ink" wash, available in the label's new Fulton Market lounge (below). here and right: Locally made blue jean line Dearborn Denim has opened its first brick-and- mortar store in Hyde Park. 86 MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM trying to be as inclusive as possible," he says. Another local denim player is two-year-old Mugsy Jeans, which like Dearborn was born from its founder, Leo Tropeano, not being able to "find anything I liked that was stylish and comfortable." With the introduction of its signature FLx denim—a warp-, shrink-, and wrinkle-resistant blend of cotton, rayon, and polyester—late last year, Mugsy, which designs only men's jeans ($98), came into its own, says Tropeano. Summer expansions like shorts and a new athletic fit are bolstered this fall with more new colors, including neutral gray, tawny port, and ink black. An e-commerce retailer, Mugsy put down firm Chicago roots in May with the opening of its first by-appointment brick-and-mortar location (1118 W. Fulton Mkt., Ste. 200; mugsyjeans.com). "Although it would have been easier [to do it elsewhere], starting here was a very important aspect," says Tropeano, 29, a former international tax consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers who moved from New York to Chicago, his wife's hometown, five years ago. "We're all in on Chicago." Hometown high fashion is even getting in on the local denim craze, with Chicago native Maria Pinto (833 W. Washington Blvd., 888-868- 2057; m2057.com) taking a different approach: While her new M2057 capsule collection ($295–$495) includes both skinny and high-waist/ wide-leg jeans, it also features denim tops, dresses, skirts, wraps, and (new for fall) a jacket. Named for iconic 20th-century women—think Katharine Hepburn, Lauren Bacall, and Meryl Streep—the collection is made using an ultrafine Italian cotton (tightly woven with a touch of elastic) and produced in Chicago and New York. "These pieces are a blank canvas, so they can go very casual but also be really elevated," says Pinto, who has designed clothing for the likes of Oprah Winfrey and Michelle Obama. "Being an American designer, and looking at American women… We wear a lot of denim. It helps ground things," she adds. A mainstay for all, born in Chicago. . PHOTOGRAPHY BY MISTY WINTER PHOTOGRAPHY (STITICHING); © MIKE TUCCORI/GET IT GOT (DEARBORN STORE); COURTESY OF MUGSY JEANS (TROPEANO); BY DELANEY LAUX (MUGSY LOUNGE) STYLE TREND