On Friday night, local boutique Bonnie & Clyde's hosted a late-night fashion show at the West Loop nightclub Lumen, where a slight clothing designer with a stand-up hairdo and a fascination with the word fierce was the center of attention. Christain Siriano, winner of the fourth season of Project Runway, was on hand to chat with local media and oversee the runway presentation, which showcased his spring line and a sampling of other merchandise from Bonnie & Clyde's inventory.
Boutique owner Stephen Neparstek said that he organizes "two larger events a year," which typically involve a fashion show and a designer guest host. The events used to take place in his Wicker Park shop, but "[Bonnie & Clyde's] can only accomodate about 50 guests for a V.I.P. presentation," Neparstek said. "It became not worth the cost of production for such a small audience."
To make room for a bigger crowd—and thus more potential consumers of his spring merchandise—Neparstek decided to host the show at Lumen, a 300-capacity venue that he said "has a sleek, minimal look and excellent lighting." Also, the nightclub's West Loop surroundings seemed like a fitting backdrop for the show: "The neighborhood reminds me of New York's meatpacking district in the early '90s, when the area started to get more popular with designers and boutiques," he said. "I like what's happening there."
With the help of Grace PR, the fashion show landed in local newspapers' calendar listings in the days before it took place; Neparstek also posted the event details on Bonnie & Clyde's Web site. By Friday afternoon he had received 1,000 RSVPs—a fact he chalked up to the shop's reputation as much as to the in-print and online promotions. "We throw a lot of passion into our productions," he said. "We're a risk-taking boutique, and people know that we always have new fashion and emerging designers to introduce at our events." It also didn't hurt that the never-shy Project Runway alum helped spread the word about his nightclub appearance. A good chunk of the R.S.V.P.s, Neparstek said, were from "friends of Christian."
To deal with the onslaught of responses, Neparstek said he capped the guest list at midnight on Thursday and sent out a notice to everyone who had responded. "We urged everyone to show up early," though the fashion show didn't start until 11 p.m., he said, "and had to tell people that just because they sent an R.S.V.P., that didn't necessarily mean they were getting in. When the venue reaches capacity, there's nothing we can do."
