Gamma Player

Mireya Acierto

Gamma Player

2035 W. Division, 773-235-0755

April 6, 2007

WHEN INTERNATIONALLY KNOWN techno DJ Jeff Mills and wife Yoko Uozumi decided to open a boutique, they wanted it to blur the line between music and fashion. I’m still not sure what that means, but everything in Gamma Player’s black-painted space (the theme for its first season is “The Universe by Night”) is pretty darn cool. The couple, who together run Mills’s 15-year-old label, Axis Records, and have another home in Berlin, has stuck with small designers from Europe and South America who evince the kind of avant-garde yet wearable aesthetic they came to admire during their travels. “We try to select items that are not so crazy that you have second thoughts about wearing them,” says Mills. For example, a black button-down men’s shirt by IO, a German designer, looks at first glance like your basic sleek, European-cut shirt, but the back reveals irregular pleating with slashes of white fabric. A black knife-pleated skirt by Anne Valerie Hash features flowery cutout patterns that bring to mind a chic paper snowflake project. Accessories include a pair of brightly colored, magnetized square resin bangles by La Mollla as well as ornate necklaces and earrings by Brazilian designer Thais Franca that combine metal and traditionally made lace. Many of the designs are exclusive not only to Chicago but to the country. There is a small collection of books on art and fashion, which will eventually include CDs and DVDs. Clothes range from $100 all the way up to $2,000; accessories sell for $60 to $400. —Heather Kenny

Belmont Army Lakeview 855 W. Belmont	Phaiz West Town 673 N. Milwaukee	Andersonville Galleria Andersonville 5247 N. Clark	2 Sisters West Loop 1167 W. Madison
Golden Age Pilsen 1500 W. 17th	Pivot West Town 1101 W. Fulton	Charlotte Russe Loop 10 S. State	Renegade Handmade Wicker Park 1924 W. Division
Gray Old Town 1361 N. Wells	Florodora South Loop 330 S. Dearborn	A.Okay Official Lakeview 3720 N. Clark	Intermix Gold Coast 40 E. Delaware
Bess & Loie West Loop 1015 W. Lake	Gamma Player Wicker Park 2035 W. Division	Malabar Bucktown 1880 N. Damen	Mia Mora Logan Square 2639 W. Fullerton
Roslyn Bucktown 2035 N. Damen	Ouest West Loop 1063 W. Madison	Kaveri Lincoln Park 1211 W. Webster	Lissa on Maxwell University Village 729 W. Maxwell
TK Men Bucktown 1909 W. North	MNG by Mango Downtown Water Tower Place	Doggy Style Pet Shop Wicker Park 2023 W. Division	Sweden Shop Albany Park 3304 W. Foster
Permanent Records Ukranian Village 1914 W. Chicago	Michelle Tan Wicker Park 1872 N. Damen	Akira Bucktown 1814 W. North

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