The Avant-Garde Winners
Avant Garde is a competitive initiative held during Chicago Fashion Week powered by FashionBar LLC in October. Designers are challenged to utilize the vast city architecture, culture, diversity, lakefront, and landmarks as inspiration for their designs.
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Designers are to utilize the vast city of Chicago’s past, present, and /or future, people,
Chicago Cityscape
Designer: MARCELINO RUIZ
Photography credits: Ian Nelson
It is my belief that the city of Chicago would not be as iconic if it weren’t for its placement on the lake. Water is the building block of all life on the planet, and Lake Michigan is one of the few freshwater lakes in our region that is utilized in our everyday lives. Whether it be swimming, boating, fishing, or just laying in the sand not to far from it, everyone has a memory that incorporates the lake and/or beaches.
When the theme called for the spirit of Chicago, I immediately thought of what the lake would look like if it was embodied like an actual spirit. My design changed through the creating process, but the core of the idea remained the same. I imagined something long, somewhat flowy but still and peaceful at the same time. Water is ever shifting and it only makes sense to me that so would the garment. – Marcelino Ruiz, October 2022 Avant-Garde Winner
The Robert Taylor Homes
Designer: Nicole Daughtry
Governed by the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA), the Robert Taylor Homes were once the largest housing development in the country. There were a total of 28- 16 stories building all grouped within a two-mile radius. Designed to hold only 11,000 inhabitants, these homes housed a peak of 27,000 people. About 96% of the inhabitants were African American. This building, along with the 27 others, has since been demolished.
The Robert Taylor Homes were a huge part of Chicago’s African American culture. Though plagued with crime, drug, and poverty, I chose to find the beauty in these historical buildings in the building structure itself. With this garment I essentially intend to mimic that structure. The mesh fabric represents the fenced in stories. The middle stretch taffeta strip embellished with trim and studs represents the dividing middle structure. Lastly, the over the shoulder panels represent each window visible from the front view of the building (16 down x 4 across).
To learn more, click here.
The Woman of Steel
Designer: Maria G. Mauro
The Woman of Steel is representative of today’s woman; enabled and empowered to handle beyond the “traditional roles” a woman plays in society. The beautiful crochet design was created by Maria Mauro, who focuses her love and energy towards mastering haute couture garments with crochet.
The Woman of Steel is made with silver metallic yarn crocheted into aluminum can openers from six pack beers and soft drinks. Maria also incorporated the aluminum can openers as fringe onto the design. Formed to the body, yet movable in the flexible textile, the yarn holds the garment in place with elegance and grace in natural materials. This is the haute couture crochet.
To learn more, click here.
The St. Valentines Day Massacre
Designer: VJG Clothing Co.
V.J.G. Clothing won the Avant Garde competition on October 29th, 2017, at the Audi Dealership of Chicago, with a piece inspired by the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. Showcasing the history of Chicago, this piece is made up of a dress designed in a form similar to police uniforms back during this era.
The piece is covered in fake blood to represent the violence of this event and shows the police involvement, due to the fact that this blood is on the police officer-inspired dress. This piece also contains a gun holster made up of the newspaper from the events of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.
This is a walking symbol of Chicago’s history and V.J.G. was awarded a $750 prize due to his efforts and the symbolism of this piece of fashion.
To learn more, click here.
The Melting Dress
Designer: The Haus of Chrjor Inc.
The Avant Garde Competition winner was designer Kaori Semaj, He created a look that was inspired by the beautiful city of Chicago! For Kaori, that meant he had to start with the foundation; where it all began. Before the great Chicago fire, Chicago was the epicenter of both national and international trade, being one of the fastest growing cities in the world! To accommodate the rapid growth of the city, builders began building the city as fast as they could and concluded that building with wood would be both the fastest and the easiest way to expand the city.
It is said that the Chicago Fire started with a mere lantern, and years later that lantern would symbolize the spark that ignited the Phoenix-like rebirth of the marvelous City of Chicago! Kaori decided that he would create a melting dress that represented rebirth and being forged in fire.
To create the look Kaori melted over 2,000 glue sticks and manipulated them to create the beautiful gown above.
To learn more, click here.