[caption id="attachment_5311" align="alignleft" width="486" caption="Photo courtesy: Chicago Magazine"][/caption] It’s a ritual of spring and, as all Midwesterners know, spring comes late to Chicago. But today is a sunny day, the temperature is up to a wildly warm 58 degrees, and on Thursday an annual fashion ritual occurs: a special preview fundraising event, The Walk 2009. So spring has finally arrived. While Chicago’s reputation as a fashion design center has grown in recent years, thanks to Michelle Obama, it has long had a small but strong base of fashion-centric people. There is, of course, designer Maria Pinto—who has done many wonderful dresses, evening gowns, and separates for Mrs. O; Joan Weinstein, who brought high fashion to Chicago decades ago with her Oak Street boutique Ultimo—where she discovered struggling designers like Peter Soronen; and Ikram Goldman, who carried on the high fashion tradition after Ultimo closed with her own boutique, Ikram, on Rush Street—where a shopper can find everyone from Thakoon to Tom Binns to Isabel Toledo to Rodarte. Goldman, as we know, has been helping Mrs. O pick out many of her clothes and accessories—starting last year before the Democratic Convention and continuing through Mrs. O’s recent European trip. And then there are all those great women who just live here and buy the clothes (shopping the sales, if necessary), mixing them up with vintage pieces or less costly items—the people who help keep Maria Pinto and Ikram Goldman and all the other lesser known designers and boutiques going. For 75 years, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) has nurtured the talented design students who have gone on to make big contributions to the world of fashion. Alumni include Halston, Cynthia Rowley, and Morgan Puett, as well as graduates who currently design for Anna Sui, Calvin Klein, Zac Posen, Betsey Johnson, and Moschino. SAIC celebrates its current student designers this week with multiple events on Thursday and Friday. On Thursday, The Walk 2009 honors designer and alumna Maria Pinto (BFA 1990) with its SAIC Legend of Fashion Award. Pinto is known for her confident and sophisticated designs. Her work has been worn by Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey and many others who love Pinto’s mix of luxurious fabrics and clean lines. In the past, Pinto has called her style “Opulent Minimalism,” and we think that’s a perfect description of her beautiful clothes. As part of the Thursday evening events, guests will enjoy a retrospective of Pinto’s 18 year career, including a display of her signature pieces. After the presentation, there will be mingling with designers over cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. Last year, the fun-loving crowd included Ikram Goldman, then pregnant with twins but still wearing Lanvin, seen here with SAIC Department Head Nick Cave. Tickets are pricey ($500 for Thursday night, $75 for Friday’s fashion show), but it is a benefit to help SAIC—and a chance to meet some wonderful people and see some great clothes. Or you can catch the action afterwards on the SAIC website