Sales Check
March 2009: A roundup of this month’s sales, store openings, and shopping news.
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Custom Fashion in Pilsen
Out of the Mouths of Babes
Within a month after graduating from the Chicago Fashion Incubator, Chicago native Kate Coxworth, the 27-year-old designer of the Kate Boggiano clothing line, moved her inventory from the 11th floor of Macy’s to Pilsen. Now a studio and retail space, Kate Boggiano (2150 Canal Port Ave., Suite 3A3; 866-388-3501, kateboggiano.com) opened earlier this month and carries a line of shirts, tops, and blouses that focuses on…
Exuberance and Restraint: Louis Vuitton, Chloe, and Martin Grant
Well, sports fans, we have made it to the end of something exhilarating, maddening, frivolous, and momentous: another fashion month has ended! I plan on taking a restorative weekend in which I will stay far away from high heels, but I’ll be back here next week with input from…
Paris’s Most Fashionable Venues (Valentino, Andrew Gn, Lanvin, and Akris)
Fashion Week involves much back and forth across the city, and when shows aren’t held at the Louvre or Tuileries (blessedly uncomplicated central locations), it means more planning. But sometimes the distant venues are so gorgeous you forget the extra time it took to get there…
Beau Chanel
It seems black is the reliable bet during this economic crunch. Why should designers pretend it’s not what women go for most of the time? But this is still Paris Fashion Week—we want a little drama, right? Well, the Chanel show yesterday provided a good mixture: a little theatricality with a lot of practicality…
SoKo Fashion Escapes Shutter
Stayin’ Alive
Like many businesses this past holiday season, SoKo Fashion (1925 W. Chicago Ave.; 773-592-1089, sokofashion.com) took a hit in sales. As a result, owner Sheri Roney had to make a decision: keep going and possibly take on more debt—or close. Going with the latter, Roney announced her plans to shutter her Ukrainian Village boutique in early February. “If something was gonna happen, it was gonna have to happen fast,” she says. Luckily, the change happened in less than two weeks. “Our inventory was bought out [at 40 percent off] and our sales went…
Fashion Week Diary: Shelby Coleman
Skokie-based model Shelby Coleman (whom you may remember from our Q & A in October 2008) gives us a brief behind-the-scenes look at a day in her life:
March 4, 2009
First day of Fashion Week! Today I have a full schedule, which consists of five castings and two shows! I wake up at…
Getting Flushed at Dries Van Noten (plus Issey Miyake, Christian Dior, Isabel Marant, and Yohji Yamamoto)
There have already been some memorable moments during this Fashion Week: seeing the incredible Beth Ditto at the Jeremy Scott show on Saturday and having a “gros dejeuner” with friends to kill time between shows. But a fashion memory I will certainly never forget: I accidentally…
Tribal Tributes
Feel free in rich prints and earthy hues inspired by native American and African influences
Taking Shape
The latest fashions follow the formal lines of art and architecture