Pete Wentz falls in for chicago's fashion focus.

Rock star Pete Wentz (left) chats with Mayor Daley before a press conference today about an upcoming fashion event in Chicago.“Fashion Focus,” Chicago’s modest answer to New York’s famed Fashion Week, will have an injection of some much-needed celebrity come this fall.Wilmette native Pete Wentz, of the band Fall Out Boy, will see designs by his Chicago-based fashion house Clandestine Industries take front and center at Gen Art’s Sixth Annual Fresh Faces in Fashion 2008. “You’ll have to forgive me. Usually when I appear this early at a press conference it’s because I did something stupid the night before,” Wentz joked during a press conference announcing the weeklong series of events to take place around the city Oct. 1-8. Wentz told the crowd he hoped by being involved to draw attention to “Chicago burgeoning, champagne fashion market.”The runway show on Oct. 1 kicks off the fashion week, which also will include an Oct. 2 show tied to Chicago’s sister city programs entitled “World Fashion Chicago,” and a student fashion show from the Illinois Institute of Art Chicago.Many of the Chicago designers involved in “Fashion Focus” were unaware of Wentz’s forthcoming involvement and approach it with a degree of caution.“As a designer, you’re used to celebrities at the runway shows, but he’s also a designer,” Chicago designer Anna Fong said. “There is the potential that his involvement might shift focus, but any exposure is good exposure.”Melissa Gamble, who is director of fashion for the City of Chicago (the closest thing Chicago has to a fashion czarina), defends the decision to include Wentz.“Having someone like Wentz, who chose to keep Clandestine Industries here in Chicago, involved in ‘Fashion Focus Chicago 2008’ is exactly what this is all supposed to be about,” Gamble says. The mini-runway show (complete with a truncated runway) that followed the press conference gave a taste of things to come.Wentz’s Chicago-based fashion house, known for its limited edition Ts, hoodies and accessories, stood out in sharp contrast to the haute couture by other Chicago designers and houses. Additional fashions from the show are online at www.suntimes.com Wentz’s wife, singer Ashlee Simpson, watched the runway show with her father-in-law, Dale Wentz.Given the media circus that often follows Wentz and his wife, it will be no small feat if the Wentz-Simpsons don’t unintentionally steal the focus from “Fashion Focus Chicago 2008.” Photos can be found Here!Source:Suntimes