Design 50 2026: Introduction
Design 50 2026: Graphic Design
Design 50 2026: Industrial Design/Innovation
Design 50 2026: Planning/Community
Design 50 2026: Home/Interior
Design 50 2026: Architecture
Here are those who shape Chicago’s Fashion.
Justin Dougan-LeBlanc
Columbia College
A professor at Columbia College’s School of Fashion, Justin Dougan-LeBlanc is a deaf and queer fashion designer and installation artist. He teaches fashion, art direction and installation design, and his work addresses the issues and perspectives of Deaf culture and LGBTQ+ people. “My work moves across sculpture, installation and wearable forms to examine how communication, gesture and spatial environments shape the body and organize movement through space,” Dougan-LeBlanc says. “Rooted in Deaf experience and sign language, the work approaches wearable structures not simply as garments, but as sculptural systems that shape perception, interaction and bodily access.” (Mary Wisniewski)
Ian Gerard and Maggie Gillette
The Curio
The Curio produces fifteen or so events a year to spotlight local talent, including fashion shows, industry socials and collaborations. It was co-founded in 2022 by Ian Gerard with Matt Woodburn. Maggie Gillette is now at the helm with Gerard. They say that two things set Curio apart from other fashion programming. First, it never charges designers a fee for participation, so finances are not a barrier to talent. Second, it has a broad range of experience—from Gerard running large-scale programming and securing national sponsorships as former CEO of Gen Art to Gillette’s own lived experience as a designer, which “gives us a really holistic view of the fashion industry.” This October, the firm will bring back its fashion show “A Celebration of Chicago Style.” (Mary Wisniewski)
Jamie Hayes
Production Mode
Jamie Hayes designs with intention—and accountability. She brings a longstanding commitment to fair trade and workers’ rights into every part of her practice, from her early work with global artisan organizations to helping pass a Chicago ordinance mandating sweatshop-free city procurement. That ethos carries through Production Mode, her slow fashion line and North Center storefront, where the atelier is fully visible—patterning, cutting and making all folded into the retail experience. Alongside her own collection, Hayes uses the space to platform other independent designers, host workshops and rethink how clothing is made, sold and worn. Her team fabricated the curtains for Chicago Architecture Center’s upcoming “Flyway City” exhibition and her upcoming fashion show will focus less on singular looks and more on how garments move across bodies and contexts. For Hayes, fashion isn’t just about what you wear—it’s about how, and under what conditions, it comes to be. (Vasia Rigou)
Azeeza Khan
Azeeza
Azeeza Khan’s pieces have been worn by Beyoncé, Hailey Bieber, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jennifer Lopez, Barbra Streisand—and most recently, she designed a dress for Lizzo. Khan—a DePaul alum, product of Chicago Public Schools and the daughter of immigrant parents—is now a celebrated fashion designer, entrepreneur and visionary behind her namesake womenswear brand, Azeeza, launched in 2013. In addition to outfitting global superstars and icons, she’s involved in collaborations from Nike to CB2. You can find her collection online, at luxury retailers, and at her Michigan Avenue flagship store. (Amy Danzer)
John Leydon
Chicago Fashion Week
John Leydon is betting on Chicago fashion at a moment when the city is reclaiming space in the broader national conversation. As founder of Chicago Fashion Week, entering its third year, he has focused on ensuring visibility for emerging designers and building a platform that connects independent makers to larger audiences. Under his leadership, Chicago Fashion Week has expanded its footprint through runway shows, partnerships and citywide programming, positioning fashion as part of Chicago’s wider cultural and design ecosystem. Leydon remains intent on the people behind the work—designers still developing their voice and practice—and sees his role not as gatekeeper but as an advocate. “I energize and empower genuine, focused and gifted makers to believe in themselves, focus on their craft and silence the naysayers.” (Vasia Rigou)
Sebastian Malczewski
Marc Nolan Shoes
Sebastian Malczewski’s Marc Nolan Shoes delivers on the brand’s mission to “create interesting shoes for interesting people.” Malczewski launched the brand in 2018. With a flagship store in the West Loop and a thriving online business, his footwear is found on the most stylish feet in the city—colorful shoes that are elevated enough for a business meeting, and stylish enough for a night out. This past year they’ve made big moves, opening a storefront in New York City and expanding their flagship in the West Loop, rebranding it as the Marc Nolan Social Club—not just a store, but a place to gather with live DJs, special events, drops and other happenings. They’ve also expanded into accessories—bags, belts, wallets and apparel that stays true to the brand’s preppy and streetwear sensibilities. Think supple leathers, rugby jerseys and crewnecks, and even a corduroy baseball cap all at the accessible price points that have driven their cult following. (Laura Botham)
Colbey Emmerson Reid
Columbia College Chicago
Colbey Emmerson Reid studies style as a system—one that shapes how we perceive, consume and move through the world. As professor of Fashion Studies and director of the School of Fashion at Columbia College Chicago, her work spans fashion theory, technology and the built environment, tracing connections between aesthetics and everything from cognition to domestic life. Her recent book, “Designing the Domestic Posthuman,” examines overlooked everyday objects—clothing, pets, even toilets—as sites of aesthetic intelligence, proposing alternative ways of thinking about design and technological futures. Projects like “The Making and Unmaking of Fashion: A Process Archive” carry these ideas forward—through a hybrid publication, exhibition and digital platform. Across her work, Reid is less interested in defining style than in expanding it—asking what it means not just at the level of culture, but at the scale of the human. (Vasia Rigou)
Caleb Vanden Boom and Laura Oberwetter
Clue Perfumery
Childhood friends Caleb Vanden Boom and Laura Oberwetter’s Clue Perfumery has become a scent darling for Chicagoans in the know, and perfume addicts nationwide. Their latest release, Dandelion Butter, a nostalgic delight, sold out three times after launch parties in New York and Chicago. Harnessing the power of scent, the duo creates unique and sometimes weird fragrances like the creamy floral of Dandelion Butter; Morel Map, an ode to the hard-to-find mushroom drawing notes from wood violets and the cozy loam scent of the forest; Warm Bulb, which smells literally like a hot lightbulb; and their other latest release, Every Apple, a scented ceramic apple sculpture soaked in perfume oil. Their fragrances aim to capture the unexpected while “balancing experimental notes and accords with the wearable and beautiful appeals of modern perfumery,” says Oberwetter. Next up for the duo? They are exploring a whole new frontier, what it looks like to go international, and, they add, “a secret big project.” (Laura Botham)
The Hall of Fame: Fashion
Nick Cave
Ikram Goldman
Ikram
Meghan Lorenz
Cities In Dust
Maria Pinto
Eric Williams
Silver Room
