I love supporting local designers, but lately I find that I am continually drawn to Anastasia Chatzka’s designs. I walked into her boutique on Division Street in the super trendy Wicker Park neighborhood a few years ago for the first time, and it took all of two minutes for me to make a purchase – a pair of super shiny purple leggings! I still wear them when I am feeling a little rock ‘n roll.
Early this summer, I signed up for an 8 week sewing course taught by Anastasia herself. I thought it might be fun to learn enough about sewing to be dangerous. Well, turns out it will take many more classes for me to even be a little bit “dangerous,” but that is no fault of the instructor. Anastasia was so patient with me, and helped me fix my mistakes and learn how to do things the right way. The class taught me that I might not be cut out for sewing, but it gave me an inside peek into the world of Anastasia Chatzka.
About Anastasia
A Michigan native, Anastasia graduated from the International Academy of Design in Chicago, and she has interned with Anna Sui and Betsey Johnson. She returned to Chicago to launch her own line, which is obviously no easy feat. Her designs have always been very girly and fem with a dose of whimsy, but at the fashion show last week I feel like Anastasia has really come into in her own: her designs were all grown up! This season’s looks are all about making women look like women.
The Show – “An Evening Under the Stars”
I was lucky enough to get a front row seat at the show. The venue was perfect: Tocco, a rustic Italian restaurant that is just as trendy as the neighborhood in which it resides. The show was outdoors, and we got a break in the heat wave that took over Chicago for a few weeks. This was great for the models since they were debuting fall clothes! As soon as the show started, the audience was awestruck. Every design that came out was breath-taking, and the hair (Joe Paciorek, Planet Color Hair Salon) and makeup (Hermina Chamnankit & Stephanie Bustamante) on the models was like a show in itself!
Here are my favorite looks from the show:
In early September she will have a booth at a prêt-à-porter show in Paris, and she is always working on cutting-edge designs. Anastasia is offering a 20% off one full-price item to nubry.com readers ([email protected]) – get it while it’s hot!
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