By Richard Chiang
Resident Media Director
CHICAGO - “An opulent soirée de la mode is being feted at some historical spot that I have never heard of......”, I said to myself while ascending the stairs on October 16th, 2012 to the entrance of this unknown building reminiscent of the Beaux-Arts style architecture. Call me ignorant, as I later on found out this place was really something: the prestigious John B. Murphy Memorial Auditorium, featuring the French Renaissance architectural style based on the Chapelle de Notre Dame de Consolation located in Paris.
Resident Media Director
CHICAGO - “An opulent soirée de la mode is being feted at some historical spot that I have never heard of......”, I said to myself while ascending the stairs on October 16th, 2012 to the entrance of this unknown building reminiscent of the Beaux-Arts style architecture. Call me ignorant, as I later on found out this place was really something: the prestigious John B. Murphy Memorial Auditorium, featuring the French Renaissance architectural style based on the Chapelle de Notre Dame de Consolation located in Paris.
So here I was at this mysterious junket, before seeing the runway show, the main attraction of the night, I was already very much enthralled by the sumptuous ambience formulated with the interior décor and the lighting. The dome ceiling, the staircases, the floor, and just about every furniture was impeccably crafted. Adding on top of all these was a layer of nostalgia, well attested by the antique phone booth just to the right of the entrance inside the building.
This indulging moment was soon interrupted when the fashionistas arrived. High energy, glamour, gossips, burst of flash lights, cocktails, and did I mention the photographer star, Steve Starr (that’s really his name) was there taking photos? I said it like it was a surprise, heck no. This guy had not yet missed one fashion event as far as I knew at that point. I salute his passion!
Right before the runway show, the hosts (Corri McFadden of Edrop-Off, April Francis founder of the critically acclaimed Dose Market and Angi Taylor, Morning Radio Host for 103.5 KISS FM) introduced to the audience the organizers Luxury Management “LUX MGT” & Monika Dixon Public Relations, the designer Julius LaCour Jr. (Maison de LaCour MDLC), and a 9-year-old girl Alyssa, whose dream was to walk the runway, and so she did tonight! It turned out this event was a benefit to American Cancer Society. The runway show debuted MDLC’s 2013 spring collection, with an on-stage ballet performance and model presentation by Yana German.