Chicago to host fashion event in October

Fashion will soon take center stage in Chicago.

The city's Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events has announced a celebration of Chicago's fashion industry will be held Oct. 14-19.

The event is called Fashion Focus: Chicago's Fashion Week. It will include a Fashion Town Hall, runway shows at the Chicago Cultural Center and in nearby Millennium Park.

The Town Hall that takes place on the first day of the event will address the question of what it takes to nurture talent and build successful brands. The keynote speaker will be Nena Ivon, a Chicago fashion institution who spent more than a half century at Saks Fifth Avenue and where she was the Director of Fashion, Special Events and Publicity.

On Friday night, 'The Art of Fashion Runway Show' will take place at Millennium Park and will feature the spring 2014 looks from ten Chicago-based designers. Millennium Park will also be the site of a shopping event on Saturday and Sunday. It will include the creations of more than 30 of the city's top apparel, jewelry and accessory designers.