‘If it doesn’t exist, create it’ is the guiding principle for regional fashion organizations like Chicago Fashion Coalition, which strives to bring education and internationally recognized runway shows to the Second City. President Marquan Jones and his team at CFC have committed to Chicago’s fashion renaissance with the revival of the city’s official fashion week taking place October 9-20, 2024. If you aren’t already tuned into Chicago’s wealth of talent, now is the time to take your runway notes.

Fashion week—an event I’ve written at the top of my journal entries every year since I was seven—has always held the allure of a distant dream. Simplified by the social masses as a gathering of glamorous designers, celebrities, and influencers assembled in tight rows around the season’s latest collections, the spark of the event has waned from New York and Paris as London and Copenhagen have shown incredible talent growth in the past decade. As younger generations focus on sustainability through self-curation and hand-sewn elements, it’s Chicago that’s poised to emerge as a new contender in the traditionally month-long global programming that takes over the fashion media landscape.

2024 marks the premiere of the city-endorsed Chicago Fashion Week® to spotlight the city as a

fashion capital. Chicago has hosted other fashion events, including Chicago Fashion Focus, which ran from 2005 to 2014 in tents at Millennium Park—created under Mayor Richard Daley’s administration with Melissa Gamble leading the charge as director of fashion arts. It aimed to elevate local designers and establish Chicago as a fashion hub. However, the 2008 recession caused the event’s budget to shrink from $400,000 to $70,000 by 2009, leading to scaled-back production. As the Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture downsized, with around 90 members, including fashion programming director Kiran Advani, being let go, designers felt that the city no longer upheld the event’s original goals.

The new community-centered model for 2024 will be a privately produced event led by fashion and cultural organizations, fashion schools, retailers, marketing, and hospitality partners. With over 50 dynamic events on the calendar, Chicago’s Fashion Week will amplify the collaboration within its diverse ecosystem, extending the excitement far beyond the runway. Jamie Forsannder, the Donor Engagement Manager at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, has already ventured into Chicago’s fashion scene with its event collaboration with CFC last year. “There was a desire to unite diverse art communities across Chicago, highlighting their deeper connections that may not be immediately apparent,” says Forssander. “It demonstrated how art communities can come together to create something truly unique and inspiring, highlighting the eagerness and willingness within Chicago’s cultural scene to collaborate and push boundaries.”

What will this week look like in the Windy City? Chicago Fashion Coalition’s approach to Chicago Fashion Week®, in particular, echoes the structure of CFDA and IMG but with an emphasized community element. “This is an amazing opportunity to showcase the collaboration and synergy of all the major fashion organizations in Chicago through the steering committee,” says Jones. “It’s the perfect opportunity to put a stake in the ground and say that we will support each other, progress Chicago fashion, and bring it to the world stage,” he says. Chicago Fashion Week® is set to feature events, including shows, presentations, retail events, exhibitions, marketplaces, and educational panel discussions. The official schedule for the week has been released at chicagofashionweek.com.

Chicago isn’t the only city recognizing the power of its fashion organizations. Regional fashion organizations such as CFC and Apparel Industry Board Inc. are at the forefront of the industry’s progression and are the future of American fashion. Markets such as Columbus, Philadelphia, Texas, Miami, and Kansas City have their own fashion organizations. The Columbus Fashion Council is one leading market pushing to make space for people not traditionally in these rooms but who influence and progress the culture. It will celebrate its 15th anniversary of Fashion Week Columbus in October 2024. 

Although Los Angeles and New York have dominated the American fashion landscape historically, these smaller and emerging markets are at the pulse of sustainability, diversity, and the overall advancement of the industry. These organizations take a welcoming and accessible approach, giving innovative fashion brands, creatives, and entrepreneurs an entry point. Their diverse perspectives and a stronger focus on the fashion business will give them the upper hand. “These individuals deserve a seat at the table. At Chicago Fashion Coalition, we want to create the change we want to see,” says Jones. “I want to see more centering of diverse perspectives and a stronger focus on the fashion business to ensure that fashion creatives can make a living from their art.” 

Having the city’s official blessing bodes to amplify the mission to legitimize, unify, and elevate the fashion industry within Chicago, finally raising it to the level of the other dynamic industries that have put the Windy City on the map. The fashion community is, in many ways, entwined with and built around its fellow creatives and pioneers in culinary arts, architecture, theater, music, and sports. Soundpost: Perception, a sold-out event featuring seven local designers at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in collaboration with CFC in January 2024, is a perfect example. “CFC is one of the major beacons the local fashion community looks towards, just as the CSO is a major beacon in the classical music realm. This collaboration was uniting those two worlds,” says CSO’s Soundpost Producer and personal stylist Kimi Ellwein. “Soundpost: Perception showed the Chicago art scene what can happen with beautiful cross-pollination of different mediums.” With the launch of Chicago Fashion Week®, the final crown jewel is set to further cement Chicago’s global recognition.

Written by Haven Hathaway
Edited by Larissa Krysiek