brands and smaller fashion houses line the walls at AKIRA, ensuring that even the most discerning customer won't leave the store empty-handed. Standout labels such as Jeffrey Campbell shoes, For Love and Lemons, Mink Pink, Senso shoes, OCC Lip Tar, One Teaspoon, Jessica Simpson shoes, Melissa footwear, and BCBG are guaranteed crowd-pleasers.

By way of its blog, its text club, and third-party platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Foursquare, AKIRA stays in constant contact with its clientele. The business' management team uses customer feedback from these initiatives to gain insight on upcoming trends and improve its quality of in-store service. The company also connects with fashion-conscious citizens of other cities and countries on its website. Style influencers all around the globe—such as Dulce Candy and Nitrolicious—have sported or buzzed about ShopAKIRA.com's offerings on their highly-trafficked blogs. Thus, even though AKIRA has become synonymous with Chicago fashion, its influence reaches far outside the city's confines.

Although AKIRA’s eclectic offerings and knowledgeable stylists have earned AKIRA its renown, its co-founders—Erikka Wang and Eric Hsueh, —attribute the company’s success to their loyal customers. As a way of giving back to the communities who have supported it so loyally over the years, AKIRA has benefited over 30 charities with fashion shows, in-store parties, and website promotions. These charities include Make a Wish, Unicef, the American Red Cross, and the Special Olympics. Year after year, AKIRA partners up with Imerman Angels, a non-profit cancer support organization, to put on a huge Garden of Eden fashion show. This show never fails to make the news with its trendy clothes & look-good, do-good ethos.

AKIRA has also gotten involved in the academic community by sponsoring Generation Y, a photography, music, art, and design program run by the Chicago Public School system. The company does its part to educate young women & men about the inner workings of the fashion industry by conducting workshops at nine local high schools and 17 national universities.

AKIRA intends to continue its pattern of rapid growth by staying ahead of the curve. As a company with zero outside investors, it must make daily alterations to its strategic plan and capitalize on every business opportunity that arises. AKIRA’s co-founders live by the theory that the more one puts into a business, the more one gets out of it; they expect their employees (and themselves) to embody a can-do spirit and a strong work ethic. The owners’ high standards have paid off for the company: AKIRA has beaten the odds during the recent economic depression, opening six stores in the last year alone.