August 30, 2018 | People
The latest from Michigan Avenue's Editor-in-Chief, J.P. Anderson.
Talking books with author, and one of my fave fashionistas, Julianna Zobrist, during our photo shoot at Z Bar. (Photo: Evan Sheehan)
I remember the moment I first set eyes on Michigan Avenue. September 2008; we were on the verge of the Great Recession, and the choruses of “Print is dead” were echoing through the industry as writers scrambled to find a place in the digital realm. I was in the office of my previous gig at another city mag when Thwomp!—into my mailbox landed this behemoth, oversize glossy thick as a phone book. Decked in jewels and a floor-length gown, Cindy Crawford gazed out with her signature smolder. Inside, the supermodel was joined by an editor’s fantasyland of celebrity contributors—Oprah, Michelle Obama, J.B. Pritzker, Hugh Hefner, Bill Maher—all rhapsodizing about Chicago. I’d never seen a publication so bold, so chic and so unapologetically glamorous, and I knew someday I’d be a part of it.
Ten years later, here we are—Michigan Avenue is celebrating a triumphant decade, and six years in I’m still relishing what has to be the most fabulous role in the city: celebrating everything and everyone that makes Chicago the incredible center of culture, technology, architecture and fashion that it is today. Like any great milestone, this one calls for a look back, so I hope you enjoy “Michigan Avenue 10,” our anniversary-inspired recap of favorite covers, quotes, trends and #MAMoments from the past 10 years.
Taking a break with chic pair Peter and Sharon Exley at our “Seeing Double” photo shoot at Neiman Marcus (Photo: Sam Grant)
Nostalgia aside, our sights as always are firmly set on what’s to come, and this fashion-packed issue is all about the new, the now and the next. That includes profiles of three fashionable duos who inspire each other to stylish heights; a guide to the city’s latest must-visit dining district; a buzzy new collection from jewelry maven Lana Bramlette; an interview with one of my personal heroes, Roger Federer; and a gangbusters cover spread with Emmy-nominated multihyphenate Darren Criss, who cut his teeth in Chicago theater and is now cementing his place on the A-list. It’s another blockbuster lineup, and after 10 years that’s still the goal: to create a magazine you simply can’t take your eyes off of.
