Tim Gillengerten and Kyle John Hollings/Photo: Nathan Keay
47 Kyle John Hollings and Tim Gillengerten Art Director and Creative Director/Owner, Transit Tees “Our favorite projects are inspired by experiences we have in our everyday life in Chicago,” says Tim Gillengerten of Transit Tees, who, alongside art director Kyle John Hollings is working on over eighty product designs that will launch throughout 2022, including a product line inspired by their Chicago Handshake card game. Integrating nostalgic design with contemporary pop culture, the newly released drinking card game is a nod to Chicago’s history, culture and the city’s most controversial liquor, the infamously bitter Jeppson’s Malört. Doesn’t get any more local than that!
Kyla Embrey and Sarah Azzouzi/Photo: Nathan Keay
39 Sarah Azzouzi and Kyla Embrey Co-Founders, Lost Girls Lost Girls founders Sarah Azzouzi and Kyla Embrey went into the vintage clothing business cruising across state lines with Winnie, their hand-painted 1976 camper van, before they settled down. Three locations later, in Chicago’s West Town and Logan Square neighborhoods, they have expanded from clothing, to accessories, to apparel, to homeware. But that’s not all: “We are expanding our sustainability practices to education,” says Azzouzi. “We’re looking forward to hosting workshops that focus not only on creating new items out of recycled materials, but also mending and repairing garments. We hope that people take to mending garments rather than quickly disposing of them. While we understand that not everyone has the ability to shop sustainably, we can at least teach others how to make their pieces last longer by mending, laundering properly or up-cycling.” To her, the future looks hopeful: “I think we’ll see a lot of innovation in 2022, similar to when we were in the recession. I think it forces people to become more creative and to find unique solutions to our new normal,” she adds. “What does the world of retail, art, and design look like with the pandemic still at our heels? Perhaps more open-air markets, event spaces, retail and overall architectural design.”
37 MJ Jaworowski and Jose Villanueva Co-Founders, Notre Notre’s latest collection made headlines with their third collaboration with Vault by Vans— reimagining the Vans archive through contemporary street fashion, art, surf and skate culture. “The Vault by Vans x Notre OG Style 36 LX Collection will include three playful tonal colorways referencing popular café drinks—espresso, matcha and tea. With this collaboration, we wanted to emphasize the unique but familiar ways in which we each choose to enjoy our favorite drinks in hopes of shedding light on the little things that connect us all.” Transforming the iconic side-stripe on the OG Style shoe by embedding their handshake logo into it, the minimally designed boutique that is undeniably one of the Midwest’s premium destinations for sneakers, streetwear and apparel, sends a strong message: community comes first. “There are many ways of doing things besides your own,” reads their slogan, which perfectly aligns with their design philosophy, concept and greater values.
Sheila Rashid/Photo: Nathan Keay
32 Sheila Rashid Fashion Designer “I believe the landscape of Chicago design for this year will be about a reflection of what we are all collectively going through,” says Sheila Rashid. “ I feel there will be an urge or renaissance of designers, creators to want to find ways to be interactive, collaborative and expressive through events and activations. Being that COVID is making things hard—it also makes us want to go harder. And I believe Chicago is birthing more artists, especially now, that will shape the future. Designing pieces that “confront and curtail gender identity,” Rashid’s unisex brand takes a new approach to creativity, simplicity and persistency while providing a sense of individuality that has attracted celebrity names—from Zendaya to Lena Waithe to Chance The Rapper to Bella Hadid. Rashid, who describes her work as “combining both tomboy and feminine qualities,” is only beginning. “Right now, I’m working on a new story to tell through my clothing designs,” she says. “I want to contribute to the Chicago design scene by continuing to release collections that inspire upcoming designers and have events and workshops to show people that you don’t have to move out of the city to ‘make it’.”
Anna Hovet Dias/Photo: Nathan Keay
14 Anna Hovet Dias Founder, Hovet Fashion Studio/Executive Director, Chicago Fashion Incubator “The pandemic has created a substantial opportunity for new and existing creators to break out on a Chicago scene that has been relatively quiet for the last two years. I’ve watched many designers developing new ideas and brands during this downtime and I look forward to seeing their launches in 2022,” says fashion designer, entrepreneur and educator Anna Hovet Dias, curious to see the formats in which artists decide to present their work. “I’m focused on nurturing the new guard of fashion designers in Chicago through my work at the Chicago Fashion Incubator,” says Dias, turning the spotlight to six very talented designers-in-residence, as she describes them. Dias balances between her education and mentorship efforts, and her company Høvet Fashion Studio. “There, I work with fashion hobbyists and apparel entrepreneurs, so I get to see a wide range of creativity and design through our clients’ work,” she says. “It’s a constant reminder of the talent in Chicago and I hope to continue to help bring these ideas to life.”
9 Azeeza Fashion Designer Creating collections that focus on exploring bold color, voluminous silhouettes and intricate hand embroidery to express an effortless femininity, Chicago-based fashion designer Azeeza balances elegance and quality—all garments are handmade with in-house dyed silk fabrics, traditional embellishment techniques, and expert craftsmanship. Having dressed some of the most iconic women of our times—think Barbra Streisand, Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez, Sarah Jessica Parker and Hailey Baldwin, Azeeza constantly comes up with original and creative ways to make ready-to-wear clothing that stands out.
6 Kristopher Kites Jewelry designer Hailing from Chicago’s South Side, Kristopher Kites has been making art, sculpture-like jewelry pieces, clothes and apparel—a nod to cartoons, nostalgia and his childhood. His work includes superhero and Jesus figurines that are made out of clear or bright-colored plastic and can be worn as jewelry, chains in the form of necklaces or bracelets, and 3D sculpted objects of all shapes and sizes. More often than not, they are one-of-ones. When his first line dropped, Kites did a shoot underwater. It was all uphill from there. His work has been spotted on J Balvin, Post Malone, Jonathan “Foodgod” Cheban, Don C, Ben Baller and LeBron James. Creating literal wearable sculptures and “fake-making-clothes” as he calls it, has landed Kites the opportunity to become the inaugural Designer in Residence for Don C’s and Virgil Abloh’s boutique, RSVP Gallery. And his latest news includes a collaboration with Mattel.
The Hall of Fame: Fashion *= new this year
Nick Cave Fashion Chair, SAIC
* Ikram Goldman President, Ikram
* Maria Pinto Fashion Designer and Founder, M2057
* Andrea Reynders Fashion Designer/Director of Design, Chicago Fashion Incubator
* Eric Williams Founder and Creative Director, The Silver Room
Greek-born Vasia Rigou is a seasoned journalist, editor and multimedia content producer largely on the subjects of visual art, culture, architecture and design. She currently serves as an Editor at Newcity, Chicago’s leading culture publication, as Writer and Copy Editor at the International Interior Design Association (IIDA) HQ, and regularly contributes to international architecture and design magazines OnOffice and ICON. She has experience creating content for brands and building conference speeches and influential TEDx talks. Simply put: she’s fascinated by finding out the great stories behind the people, places and objects that surround us, and by sharing those stories with the world. When she’s not writing about art or looking at art—wine in hand—she makes lists for pretty much everything, drinks immense amounts of coffee and takes cross-country road trips every chance she gets.
Design 50 2022: The Fifty People Who Shape Chicago (Introduction)
