All Chicago modeling agencies and fashion industry companies must be thrilled to hear this: Chicago Fashion Focus ended last night to a record crowd. According to Women’s Wear Daily, people are actually starting to take Chicago seriously as a fashion oriented city.

You could almost mistake it for New York Fashion Week, right?

Despite the faltering economy and scheduling conflicts with the presidential debates Tuesday night, crowds exceeded 1,500 people at the Fashion Focus shows, which ran in Millennium Park from Oct. 1 - 8.  The growing sophistication and size of the 4-year-old fashion week is being attributed to the increasing experience of the organizers. This year, they created buzz by promoting the events with Chicago native celeb Pete Wentz, of Fall Out Boy fame. Credit is also due to Mayor Daley, who launched multiple fashion initiatives to enhance the whole industry within the city. The city’s director of fashion arts and events, Melissa Gamble added about the event, “Now in our fourth fall, people are starting to look for it and look to us for what’s going on in fashion in Chicago.”

What does this all mean for our Chicago models and our modeling agency? We think it means that Chicago is a city with promise in fashion, and now is s better time than ever to get your start. Check out this article for more details about 2008’s Fashion Focus success.