As was hinted at previously, the Contracts Mode Focus is to unlock as much of the optional play elements as you can for use in Contracts. From the main Contracts menu select Unlocks, and then Weapons, and you are presented with the first element of Focus, which is the Weapon Collection.
While many of the Weapons you can use in Contracts are unlocked by collecting them in the single-player Campaign, it is here that you will be upgrading those weapons, adding the additional Kit to them (upgradeable weapons can have up to three upgrades applied to them at any one time) and thus improving their performance and lethality through spending your hard earned Contract Dollars on upgrading them!
The second collection area that will have an impact on Contracts play is also unlocked in the single-player mode, and that is the Assassin Techniques. Gamers who pre-ordered the game will have had access to the Hitman: Sniper Challenge, which gives them a jump on unlocking several of these Assassin Techniques, but even if you did not pre-order the game, you should still have very little trouble unlocking all of these as you work your way through the Story mode of the game.
The third collection area in the game is the Disguises, which again are unlocked in the Story mode and which, again, feature as Contracts Mode Focus objects. Why? Simply because the more disguises you have access to the more interesting you can make the Contracts you create yourself!
Ultimately the Focus for Contracts is to add into the game as much variety as you can manage, and that means mixing up the Weapons, the disguises, and the techniques that you use in creating your own Contracts to share with the Hitman world!
Can you actually wear the disguises in contract mode? I went through the trouble if alerting the guards in the king of Chinatown mission to get the swat disguise and the smg that they use and it would be bummer if I couldn't use it