The Chicago Fashion Incubator is a program housed at Macy’s on State Street that helps budding Chicago designers develop their collections into full-fledged brands. Designers compete for the prestigious workspace at the CFI, where participants are given the tools and taught the skills necessary to make their lines successful. Every October the designers present their collections at Chicago Fashion Week in Millennium Park.

To make it easier to buy clothing designed by local designers, the CFI partnered up with 900 North Michigan to design a temporary pop-up shop in the luxury shopping center on the fifth floor. The store will be open for five weeks, so make sure to head over sooner rather than later!

Last night the CFI partnered with Gilt City Chicago to host an opening party to celebrate the first day of the pop-up shop. Guests drank and socialized, and the hot topic of the evening was the rising strength of Chicago’s fashion scene. Many of Chicago’s most important fashion figures were in attendance, as were magazine editors and bloggers. Click the link below to see party photographs from the event!

More of my photos from last night’s opening party:

Visit Your Trendy for much better photographs from last evening.