City of Angles
IN CHICAGO, WHERE A NEWFOUND VITALITY IS FUELING A BOOMLET IN STYLE AND DESIGN, THE FUTURE IS NOW. BY GIOIA DILIBERTO

Photographs by Raymond Meier

From: http://www.nytimes.com/indexes/2009/03/22/style/t/index.html#pagewanted=0&pageName=22chiw&

Since 1871, when it rose spectacularly after the Great Fire, Chicago has been famous for pioneering architecture — from the steel-frame skyscraper to the flat geometry of the Prairie School to Mies van der Rohe’s clean Minimalism. When it comes to cutting-edge fashion, though, the city rarely registered. Lost between the glamorous coasts, it’s been a no-style zone. Until now.
Chicago has always been a shopping town, with all the blue-chip flagships — Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Burberry — on the luxury thoroughfare known as the Magnificent Mile, along with world-class department stores like Marshall Field’s (now Macy’s), where, in the pre-jet age, women could buy line-for-line copies of French couture. But it took Michelle Obama, a woman who knows how to mix some serious-looking Azzedine Alaïa accessories with her J. Crew staples, to bolster the city’s fashion confidence. If New York is a sleek sophisticate in black and Los Angeles a tanned blonde in a tank top and jewels, then Chicago is the stylish but sensible girl next door. Before the election, Obama was spotted shopping at Lori’s Shoes, a popular discount store on the city’s North Side. ‘‘Michelle doesn’t want to be seen as a diva,’’ says Maria Pinto, the designer who dressed the first lady in her classically feminine sheaths for several key campaign appearances and recently opened a minimalist boutique in the SoHo-like West Loop neighborhood.

It’s there, and in arty Wicker Park and the hip Southport Corridor, that you’ll find a trendy brew of established and new designers showcased in independent boutiques. There are innovators like Kelly Whitesell and Elizabeth Del Castillo of Eskell, which makes youthful clothes using hand-printed fabrics, and Yoko Uozumi and her husband, the techno D.J. Jeff Mills, who own the ‘‘concept’’ shop Gamma Player. ‘‘This spring we’re inspired by Niterói, the seaside town in Brazil,’’ says Uozumi, who builds her collections around town in Brazil,’’ says Uozumi, who builds her collections around different themes, ‘‘so we’re carrying dresses in geometric prints that invoke the sea.’’

Old World elegance reigns supreme at Blake, where Balenciaga hangs with Dries Van Noten in a converted post office. Then there is Ikram Goldman, Obama’s style consigliere, who has famously introduced heartland shoppers to fantasy-inspired pieces by Proenza Schouler, Viktor & Rolf and Rodarte at her avant-garde emporium. Only the city’s harsh weather is a hindrance to fashion savvy. ‘‘We’ll be promoting big handbags forever,’’ says Tricia Tunstall, co-founder of the boutique p.45. ‘‘You’ve got to have a way to carry your high heels, so you can check your snow boots at the door.’’