My assistant Annie and I attended Fashion Focus Chicago, along with the other fashion obsessed men and women of our city. “The Art of Fashion 2010” was presented bystylechicago.com on Friday, October 22. The runway shows took place at Millennium Park, underneath a giant white tent reminiscent of NYC’s famous Bryant Park.

The shows featured local designer’s spring 2011 collections. The lovely Lara Miller opened the evening’s festivities with her eco-friendly line. The line was presented in her usual knitted neutrals, which were sophisticated yet fun, much like the designer’s own personality. This season, Lara kept it fresh by combining new textures, colors, and patterns. Her dresses moved beautifully down the runway and it was easy to see that the models, as well as the audience, fell quickly in love with each of the garments. Lara Miller’s collections have been a long time favorite of mine, so I wasn’t surprised that her looks dazzled once again. Sadly, not all of the designers rocked it.

One of the featured designers of the night, Paul Sisti, had a cringe-worthy collection. If you can believe it, he presented ill-fitting goldsequined and denim looks. Even though denim has made a comeback as of late, I wouldn’t recommend this dark wash or the obnoxious yellow stitching for anyone. The overall collection read cheap and dated. Unfortunately, not every designer can hit it on the mark, but I was thrilled to fall in love with one of the new emerging designers of Chicago.

Lydia Wawrzyniak was the darling of the evening. My jaw dropped with her first look. A palette of blue and white feathers emerged from behind the curtains and I knew that a special and inspiring show was in store. Her designs were modern yet glamorous, fun yet fanciful. Lydia’s materials were ambitious and the execution of her vision wowed the crowd. She created showstoppers with silk, tulle, taffeta, and feather combinations. The young designer’s craftsmanship and fit were unparalleled, and her looks were her own. After the curtains closed, my assistant and I were dying to find out where we could get our hands on these incredible gowns.