Specialty Apparel

Glamour gets an edge in this boutique for the independent, assertive young woman.

Love Culture is yet another retail brand vying for that 16- to 30-year-old female’s almighty dollar. The girlishly glamorous apparel chain is a modern, yet playful, experiment in graphics, textures and layers. And it’s taking that fusion . . . » MORE

Designing for Divas

Torrid gives its shoppers an exclusive club all their own.

First came the rock star. In 1989, Hot Topic brought music-inspired fashion and accessories to the mall. Within a few years, the company was receiving customer comment cards and e-mails requesting larger sizes. A sister was born. She’s Torrid. . . . » MORE

The Extra Mile

VMSD takes a peek at what’s really fun in Chicago retail.

Downtown Chicago may have lost some of its retail identity when Marshall Field’s department store was renamed Macy’s. But retail in the Second City, like so many other American metropolises, is becoming identified as much by its neighborh . . . » MORE

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