Chicago Fashion Week Fizzles

By Amy Mikel in Arts & Entertainment on Apr 23, 2008 8:00PM

Last Friday we mentioned that Chicago Fashion Week would be taking place this week, starting on Monday and running through Saturday. At that point, since we had not encountered any advertising for the event or heard any type of buzz at all, we wondered how many even knew about Chicago Fashion Week, or cared. But tickets were selling at $125 apiece, so that must have been what people were willing to pay, right?

Well, wrong. Chicago Fashion Week has been officially “postponed.” We wonder how much of this is due to general lack of interest in the event, or if the blame can be placed squarely on poor management. Earlier this month, MW Productions, a private company who runs the event, lost their sponsorship deal with Mastercard Worldwide. Our dealings with the publicity department of MW Productions were irritatingly cumbersome, and others are claiming the same. And we already mentioned the lack of publicity and the horrific ticket prices. So sayonara for now, Chicago Fashion Week.

The official city-run fashion week event, Fashion Focus Chicago, will be taking place in the fall of this year. Hopefully this event will be much more successful.