BRINGING 800 BRANDS UNDER 1 ROOF
IMAGINE WHAT WE COULD DO
FOR YOUR BRAND
The Merchandise Mart, an Art Deco cathedral to design, sits proud in the heart of Chicago at the confluence of the river’s north and south branches. Built by Marshall Field to centralize his department store’s buying, it’s now a mecca for tech, architecture, interior design and fashion. Each year the menswear industry gathers for a trade show in the building - a place unlike any convention center.
For over 30 years, the Chicago Collective followed the typical trade show routine to attract makers and retailers from around the Midwest to buy next season’s offerings. Stark white walls with little inspiration. The obligatory logo, and racks upon racks of new designs competing for the buyers’ curiosity as they walked up and down the aisle looking and touching while salesmen jockeyed for their attention.
The whole experience felt a bit less than satisfactory. No emotive story telling? No differentiation? To grow and be sustainable, the show needed to be an aspirational experience where buyers got much more than inventory to resell at their stores.
That was our charge. Create an environment where brands could shine and buyers were inspired. We looked at each exhibitors’ booth as a opportunity for a unique story. One by one we created immersive spaces that were easily refreshed seasonally without heavy capital investments. From emotive graphics to on-brand fixtures to event logistics and storage, we built an infrastructure to serve evolving brand experiences. That has grown the Chicago Collective into one of the world’s premier menswear show expanding to over 800 brands that attracts the best retailers across America and abroad.
