Posts Tagged ‘Gen Art’

Fashion Advisory Council Head Resigns

Wednesday, May 26th, 2010

Gen Art Fresh Faces runway show during Fashion Focus Chicago 2009, an initative led by Melissa Gamble

Chicago Fashion Week can’t catch a break. Gen Art’s recent closure meant the end of the not-to-be-missed Fresh Faces runway show, and now Melissa Gamble, the head of Mayor Richard M. Daley’s Fashion Advisory Council, has resigned. Maybe better known as Chicago’s “fashion czar,” she has been with the organization since its inception in 2006 and has spearheaded the Chicago Fashion Incubator and the city’s fashion week, Fashion Focus Chicago. According to Crain’s Chicago Business, the organization will continue despite this upset. The Chicago Office of Tourism, the leading entity behind the FAC, released the following statement about Melissa’s departure and new role as a fashion business professor at Columbia College Chicago:

“Melissa Gamble has had an impressive impact on Chicago’s fashion industry and will be a great asset to Columbia College. Her five years of devotion to increasing the visibility and resources for local fashion talent has been instrumental in Mayor Richard M. Daley’s mission to elevate and educate emerging designers and independent retailers in Chicago. We’ve learned a lot over the past five years and we are currently looking at the next steps to address the growth of the fashion industry.”

The uncertainty of Melissa’s absence isn’t particularly good news for the Chicago fashion industry, but we hope the organization finds a new head who will command this post with fervor, innovation, and the utmost of dedication. We need someone who will lead our fair city’s industry in creative, dynamic ways that demonstrate our already proven fashion potential. Maybe a new face will give our fashion industry a fresh face.

By Meghan Turner

Photography by Billy Rood Photography

Tags: CFI, Chicago Fashion Incubator, Chicago Fashion News, Chicago Fashion Week, Chicago Office of Tourism, Chicago Runway Shows, Crain's Chicago Business, Fashion Advisory Council, Fashion Focus Chicago, Gen Art, Gen Art Fresh Faces, Mayor Richard M. Daley’s Fashion Advisory Council, Melissa Gamble
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C/FAN’s Fall 2010 Preview

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

New York Fashion Week kicked off last Thursday, and here in Chicago, we got a show of our own. That same evening, local designer Christina Fan debuted her fall 2010 collection to a crowd of Gen Art members, fashion insiders, and media at the Dubhe Carreño Gallery.

The artsy West Loop setting created a stark canvas on which C/FAN’s designs were presented in an edgy-meets-sultry fashion installation. Christina’s guests crammed themselves in the narrow gallery, where wine flowed, hors d’oeuvres were devoured, and a local DJ created a hip audio backdrop. Toward the rear of the gallery, a light installation of white umbrellas illuminated the presentation area and sculptures by Anne Drew Potter acted as a backdrop. Models soon appeared in sets of three, and one-by-one they walked the teeny, tiny “runway.” What was originally meant to be a typical installation turned into a pose-hold-walk routine that offered views to only those standing in the front couple rows.

If you were as lucky as I to see Christina’s designs, you were treated to a show of luxe fabrics and an earthy palette ideal for fall. The overall theme seemed to be sharp, daring cuts, including exposed midriffs, plunging necklines, asymmetrical hems, and batwing sleeves. Texture was also a key element as satiny silks, coarse goat and lamb furs, and liquidy velvets made their in and out of the installation. As Christina is known to do, the fall 2010 collection is loaded with wearable pieces that keep Chicago’s fashion sensibilities in mind, while also appealing to fearless trendsetters. “My inspiration is a woman who is carefree while still being sensual and soft,” says Christina. “She’s someone who isn’t afraid to experiment.”

This was my second encounter with C/FAN – the first was at Gen Art’s Fresh Faces last October. The fall collection maintains the same aesthetic I enjoyed then, but Christina brought the design and craftsmanship up a notch and presented some quality designs I look forward to seeing on the backs of stylish Chicagoans.

Christina Fan (center) with her models

By Meghan Turner

Photography by Tim Musho of Fig Media

Tags: Anne Drew Potter, C/FAN, Chicago Designers, Chicago Fashion, Chicago Runway, Christina Fan, Dubhe Carreno Gallery, Fall 2010, Gen Art
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