Alright, take a look to your left. You’re standing in front of what was once the sleek pride of Chicago’s garment industry-the International Tailoring Company Building, also called the White Tower Building. Now, imagine it’s 1916. Back then, this ten-story brick-and-terra-cotta beauty was basically the Google HQ of suit-making. Unlike the dark, grimy sweatshops people dreaded, Jacob Reiss and his architects, Mundie & Jensen, built this place to be the complete opposite: tall windows for sunlight, wide open spaces, fresher air, and-believe it or not-pretty decent working conditions, at least for the day.
Why all the fuss? Well, if you were a tailor in early 20th-century Chicago, this was the factory you actually wanted to work in. The company itself, founded in 1896, was ahead of its time, and when money changed hands-say, a couple hundred thousand dollars to build this place-that’d be about $6 million today. Not pocket change.
These days, it’s found new life as condos, and for a while, art exhibitions from local students filled the halls. That’s old Chicago reinventing itself, right before your eyes.
Feeling inspired? Walk north for 4 minutes to the National Hellenic Museum.
