Two weeks back, I got a chance to attend and shoot Akira’s spring fashion show - Valley of Castles. It was the second time I was shooting runway after the Fashion Focus Chicago shows. I collaborated with the lovely people at Laundry Magazine to shoot the Akira show for them. For the fashion shows I have attended in the past, I would have to do the regular waiting in line to get in but this time I had a press pass so it was great to just get in and find a good spot in the press area to shoot the show. Akira showcased a range of looks filled with bold geometric prints, neon, pastels, and a lot of tangerine tango – color of 2012. Here are some of my favorite details from the show. You can see more on Laundry Magazine here and here.

Only a few days left for the Versace for H&M collection to be in stores and this is my wish list. (Although I am not sure about the logistics of how I will acquire these since its going to be complete madness at the stores and am too lazy to wake up early and line outside) Regardless, I love these kinds of collaborations since they make fashion more accessible to a larger group of people. The pieces I picked for my wish list are ones that can be worn everyday and I would not have to have a special occasion to wear them. I love the bright colors, the crazy prints, the sequins and the gold and silver studs in these. What are some of the pieces on your wish list?

Third week of Oct. was Fashion Week (also known as Fashion Focus Chicago) here and I tried attending as many shows and events as possible – good thing most of them were after 5! These are some photos from that week – I know its been a while! There were many talented local designers showcasing their creations on the runway – some established and some just starting out. Regardless, it was really great to see their works and to see Chicago’s support for the local designers.

This was my first time shooting a legit fashion show – I learnt a lot and I will def be better prepared in the future. In many of the photos you can see people’s heads and things since I wasn’t in the pit and was just shooting from where I was sitting. For the first show I attended, I didn’t bring an extra memory card and I was shooting in RAW. So, in the middle of the show, the memory ran out and I had to quickly delete many of my street style photos without realizing that I had not transferred them to my laptop! Lost several of my street style photos! So…apart from this disaster, I really had fun and it was a great experience!

This is one of my favorites photographs. I shot this on State Street and it was one of the days when you could actually feel that fall is here. I like how the streets looked so calm.

While walking around the city looking for style outliers, you notice so many other interesting things and since I take photos of them anyways, I might as well share my favorite ones with you. I have experimented with the colors a bit here just to emphasize the parts that drew my attention.