Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/138854
STYLE SETTER oak street paradise WITH HIS THREE-STORY FLAGSHIP BOUTIQUE, DESIGNER GEORGE ZAHAROFF'S GOLD COAST DREAMS HAVE COME TRUE. BY ELLE EICHINGER PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVID W. JOHNSON Y ou enter a serene space, flanked on either side by the archangels Michael and Gabriel. Light shines down from above, and ahead of you beckons a grand curving staircase—exactly where it leads is obscured from view. Affirmations swirl around you: "Be at peace." "Invoke positives." "Dare to dream." "Dream big." "Take action." Is this paradise? No, it's Zaharoff, designer and Chicago native George Zaharoff's eponymous Oak Street flagship boutique, which opened late last year. The angels were commissioned works, based on carvings that Zaharoff found in a 17th-century monastery outside Kazan, in the Russian Republic of Tatarstan; the signature pattern etched into the translucent glass is inspired by a Venetian church from the Byzantine era. And the affirmations curling up the curved staircase wall represent the dreamchasing quality Zaharoff both possesses and looks for in his clients. "Byzantine Industrial" is what Zaharoff dubs the look of the three-story boutique, which he designed with the help of architect Jordan Mozer. Despite the beauty and thoughtfulness of the design, though, the centerpiece of the store is Zaharoff's custom clothes. The suits he has been designing for the past 20 years are practical and functional, handmade from unique Italian fabrics and inspired by world travels. "They set [the wearer] apart just a little bit," Zaharoff says. "Not crazy or wacky—just a little different." And at a time when fashion seems to be embracing androgyny at every turn, Zaharoff's suits exude pure masculinity in their tailoring. "You won't look at a piece and say, 'That's a woman's—no, that's a man's jacket,'" Zaharoff says. "It's very clear. I love the masculinity of a male, the femininity of a female," the designer says. "I love bringing out those aspects." Specifically, "My Zaharoff man is somebody who goes out there after his dream," Zaharoff says. He's a power player in any industry, and the suits complement his lifestyle—not only with soft-yet-durable fabrics that are wrinkle-resistant for easy travel, but also with those same affirmations that the designer is so fond of sewn inside each suit jacket. Zaharoff imagines his customer on a business trip: "He's in a hotel room somewhere, and he's got a big meeting, so he has his jacket out. All of a sudden he puts it on the bed, it falls open, and it says, 'I can accomplish anything I want to.'" 86 At his Oak Street flagship boutique, George Zaharoff helps to meet Chicago men's need for luxury suiting. MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM 086-087_MA_SS_StyleSetter_SUMMER13.indd 86 6/18/13 12:18 PM