Set to begin on Thursday, this year's Fashion Focus will comprise a four-day series of fashion shows, shopping events, and—new this year—a pop-up store dubbed "Technicolor Lover," which will let the public browse through everything from shoes to retro office supplies on Saturday. Presented by independent retailer Akira, Office Max, and Nolcha Fashion, a business platform for emerging designers, the temporary store will occupy 10,000-square feet of the Harris Theater rooftop in Millennium Park, and will be the largest of Fashion Focus's pop-up shops.
According to Maggie Morgan, Akira's vice president of marketing, the idea for "Technicolor Lover" resulted from a brainstorming session between Morgan; Nolcha's creative director, Lynn Fulge; and Melissa Gamble, the city's director of fashion arts and events. "Akira does fashion shows about four times a month as it is," Morgan said, "so we wanted to create a different kind of event for Fashion Focus—we're always trying to stay on the cutting edge at Akira. We were interested in doing something that wasn't going on in other parts of the city."
Morgan said that teaming up with Nolcha, which is hosting an independent retail week in conjunction with Fashion Focus, was a "priority" for Akira. "We're an independent retailer," she said, "and like us, Nolcha is all about emerging artists and designers."
The partnership with Office Max came about when reps for the company attended one of Akira's fashion shows. "They have this line of office products, DiVoga, that have interesting patterns and bring some flair to the workplace," Morgan said. "When the reps saw our fashion show, they said, 'This is the perfect way for us to bring our product to life. How do we get involved?'" Morgan explained that the target consumers for the DiVoga products are "people that care about their image in the workplace. They're fashion-oriented and are not interested in having boring manila folders or in being straitlaced. So it's a great tie-in because that demo is our key shopper."
Open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., the pop-up shop will house a lounge with interactive displays of DiVoga products; there will also be racks filled with items from Akira's fall and holiday inventory. A DJ will spin throughout the day; Hennessy Black will provide cocktails; and on-stage fashion presentations with Ford models will take place every hour between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m.
