Milani Boutique opened its doors on Oak Street 17 years ago with dreams of dressing its designer-savvy clients head-to-toe in haute couture. Yet Milani Boutique's clients are not the typical Gold Coast shoppers--they are their children. Boasting the theory that children can dress just as well, if not better, than their parents, Milani Boutique sells only couture apparel for kids of all ages.
I talked to Milani's owners,
Lana and Joe Batko, to find out more about what this unique boutique has to offer its Gold Coast neighbors.
Joe and Lana Batko
Q: Being located in Chicago's Gold Coast, what kind of customers does Milani Boutique attract?
Lana: We get more tourist customers, definitely. About 85 percent of our customers are tourists because there are so many hotels located in the Gold Coast--they come to shop here from all over the world.
Q: What is your typical customer like?
Lana: Since we carry designer brands like
D&G,
Armani and
John Galliano, we cater to parents who like to dress in designer clothing themselves and want their children to dress the same. We also have regular customers who live in the Gold Coast that come here to buy their child suits or dresses for special events.
Joe: It's a hidden away gem that has been made popular by rock stars, ball players and celebrities. They call us and we ship our clothing out to various cities all over the world.
Q: Can you tell me a little about Milani Boutique's history?
Lana: We are a family business that has been around for 17 years now. Customers come here for the simple reason that they like to deal with us personally.
Joe: The service we provide is second to none.
Lana: We feel that our customers are like our family. We started dressing their children 17 years ago, and now we are outfitting their grandchildren.
Q: Along with selling top designer brands at your store, you also sell your very own Milani brand. What are some of the inspirations for your designs?
Joe: Whatever the customer is looking for, they tell us, and we create it. We specialize in
Swarovski crystals for children and adults to accessorize the shoes and clothing with. Before us, none of the designers or anyone else was doing that, so it really made us stand out.
Q: Since designer clothing is expensive, do you ever hold sales?
Lana: We hold sales twice a year--one in February and one in August. Basically whenever the designers come out with a new season.
Q: Why did you open Milani Boutique in the Gold Coast?
Joe: We wanted to open something special that no one else had in Chicago, and in 1993, a clothing boutique like this was not possible. And when our child was born in 1992, we finally decided to open this store because it was unique not only to Chicago, but to the Midwest.
Q: Your Milani brand shoes in mother-daughter sizes are featured in Chicago's Field Museum. Can you tell me more about how this happened?
Joe: Three women from England came to the store just to look around and they noticed that we sold shoes for both the girls and their mothers in the same style, in adult and infant sizes. They didn't say much at the time, but came back about a month later and they decided to purchase them with a check from the
Field Museum. As I wondered what this was all about, they explained that they wanted to display our shoes as a a permanent exhibit at the Museum. I thought they were joking! Then a month later, they were featured not only at the Museum, but in magazines and newspapers too. We are very proud of it!
Milani Boutique is located at 65 E. Oak St., and is open Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, please visit their Website or call 312.587.0570.
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