- Hi, I am Hermene Hartman with "N'DIGO STUDIO," and today you are going to be in for such a surprise because we're going to talk about fashion.

Fashion is always top of mind, and we hear so much about fashion, fashion in Paris, fashion in New York, fashion on the red carpet.

Today we're gonna talk about fashion in Chicago.

So in October, Chicago had a new event.

It was Fashion Week, and it was a celebration of Chicago style.

♪ Light my fuse ♪ Set me on fire ♪ Striking a match on my lips ♪ Hot like June (record scratching) ♪ Ooh ooh - [Emcee] I'd like to warmly welcome you to the opening night show of Chicago Fashion Week.

- [Fashion Critic] Chicago Fashion deserves the spotlight.

The talent, hard work, and creativity in this city is remarkable.

- [Fashion Critic] Fashion gives voice to our communities and tells the story of the people.

- [Emcee] The designers participating in our show show the wide range of our city's design community has to offer.

From street wear to evening wear, rising stars to iconic designers, they all exemplify what it means to be a Chicago designer.

♪ Brought me upside down, baby ♪ I'm all in ♪ Falling apart whenever you're around ♪ ♪ It's true ♪ Don't you feel it too ♪ Heart beat goin' like boom boom boom ♪ ♪ You're all I wanna do ♪ Ooh, ooh, I like the way you like to move ♪ - Today we are going to talk to some of the designers who were featured in the show, including the mastermind behind it all, and that would be Maggie Gillette.

We're going to meet designers.

We're going to meet Alex McDermott, we're going to meet Manny Cabrera, and we're going to meet Sal.

She's a stylist and she styled all of the fashion show.

So in a word, it was fabulous, and the fashion was on and off the runway, not just on the runway, but you should have seen who was there.

Welcome to "N'DIGO STUDIO."

N'digo Studio, N'digo Studio N'digo Studio For more information about this show, follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

Funding for this program was provided by Illinois Student Assistance Commission.

The Chicago Community Trust.

Sin city Studios, Lamborghini Chicago, Gold Coast, and Downers Grove.

Blue cross, blue shield of Illinois.

Commonwealth Edison and the Illinois Health Plan.

- Maggie, welcome and tell me about Fashion Week and how it came about in the first place.

- Thank you so much.

So I'm a principal at the Curio, and our goal is to support Chicago fashion.

We do that year round and wanting to be part of Chicago Fashion Week to support that on a larger scale was a huge opportunity for us.

We presented "A Celebration of Chicago Style" presented by Abercrombie & Kent, and we had the opportunity to work with some of the best designers in Chicago, our fabulous stylist, Sal, for the second year in a row.

And we were just so excited to be able to show how much there is because, as you said, "Oh, Paris, New York."

Chicago has a huge fashion scene that is so underrepresented.

- Yes, they do.

- But it's so excellent and so to be able to elevate what we have here is such a privilege.

- So how did you choose the designers to be in the show?

That must have been hard, 'cause you featured nine designers?

- We featured seven.

- Seven.

- Yes, It's so hard because, honestly, we could have featured way more, but you only wanna have so long of a fashion show.

- The show could only be so long, right?

- Yes, it gets under overwhelming at some point otherwise, but it was really challenging.

One of the things we look to do is to curate different kinds of designers together.

We wanna show that there is equal value in avant garde, street style, evening wear, ready-to-wear.

And all of these styles are equally valid forms of expression, so we really like to show the full scope of what we do here in Chicago.

There's so many designers doing different things.

We wanna show a little bit of everything.

- You did a fabulous job.

- Thank you.

- You really did.

So what else goes on?

Because the runway show, that's just one event.

There's lots more.

Tell me what else goes on.

- Well, in terms of the Curio programming, during this week we also did a show at the Park Hyatt, but we did fashion photography.

So that was our first time working with fashion photographers and dabbling in that medium, and the response was really good.

So we are hoping to do more of that, actually, in the future and kind of expand the footprint and show more of what happens in Chicago fashion because there's a whole ecosystem, as Sal and the designers know.

You know, it's a collaboration between models, designers, manufacturers, manufacturers, stylists to make everything stores.

Yes, you have to have commerce, to make everything happen.

And so being able to show different things throughout the year, we do panels.

So I'm hosting different kinds of panels, talking to different people in the industry to help broaden people's perspective about fashion and learn a little bit more about what goes on here in Chicago.

We do social events.

We do sip and shop so people can get to know our local designers.

So we do a ton of different things throughout the year.

And Chicago Fashion Week is one way to just expand upon our footprint.

So is this going to be an annual event?

I believe so, yes.

Oh, that's going to be part of our fashion scape year.

So, Alex, tell me, about your style When you are creating clothes, what are you thinking about, what's your inspiration, and how would you define your style?

- Absolutely.

So my work tends to be very narrative, even if that's not something that is completely apparent to- - Very what?

- Narrative.

Now, what does that mean?

So my work is based in my experience as with a disabled body.

So I have a chronic pain condition that affects my nervous system.

It's something I keep relatively private, but it really is the inspiration behind the majority of my collections.

I kind of pass through different kinds of narratives that allude to either an aspect of my experience with this condition, whether that's direct references to pain or different ways that I feel that in the world.

My previous collection was called Invisible Soldiers, which kind of references the way that, like, as someone with a disability feels like an everyday battle, and especially with an invisible illness like I have, it's very hard for people to understand that, and kind of grasp to that.

That's inspirational.

Oh, thank you.

And, Manny, you design what and what what's your inspiration for your designs?

That's a great question.

I, I tend to bounce around between workwear, Western wear.

Mixed in there with a little bit of luxury pieces.

So I always like to make pieces where you're ready to, whether you're working in office, but the stuff you're wearing is good to go in the warehouse.

Just just the same.

So, I come from a different background, I believe, when it comes to this fashion world.

What's that?

Tell me.

Tell me about your background.

So I learned how to sew.

I was making tarps for truck drivers.

So can watch.

Tarps for truck drivers.

What's a tarp?

So it's basically a vinyl cover for truck drivers to cover steel or lumber.

Okay, so it's a cover that loads pretty much from the elements like rain, snow, and especially being here in the Midwest.

So I was in trucking, my early 20s, and that was my goal in life, to be a truck driver.

I quickly learned that that was a tough job (chuckling), and I couldn't do that, you know?

I didn't see myself doing that for the rest of my life.

So I said, "How can I still make money in this industry that I know very well without having to do the 3:00 AM wake up, say, having to go all the way to Texas and to"- - You didn't like that?

You didn't like that 3 o'clock in the morning?

- (chuckling) No, I did not like it.

You know, it's a job that I respect a lot and - It's a hard job.

- It's a very tough job, and if you don't love it, it's a very dangerous job.

You know, I started selling equipment to truck drivers.

That was my thing, buying and selling used equipment.

And then people asking me do I make tarps, can I fix tarps, and I never knew... Like, I need a sewing machine for that.

I don't know how to use a sewing machine.

And it's funny 'cause in middle school, they were trying to teach us how to use sewing machines, and I said, "That's not for... "I'm a boy, and I don't sew."

I don't sew, you know?

- Oh, 'cause he thought that was girly.

- Yes, yeah.

I was 12, 13 years old.

And when I discovered that when I made my first tarp that I love sewing, and I just became obsessed.

And this was like around 2015.

So then I just became curious about these machines and just start experimenting with the fabrics that I already had in the warehouse.

A lot of, canvases, vinyls.

So how would you how would you describe your style?

Is there is there a word that describes your style?

And my other question is, is this for men only, or can women also wear your clothes?

Oh, anybody can wear.

Yeah.

So they're unisex.

Yes, absolutely.

I quickly especially now where the fashion is that right now?

A lot of oversize.

I learned that, a man and a girl could both wear and size XL, even though they're two completely different sizes.

It's all about the waist style, you know?

So luckily for us, it has worked out great.

I have been leaning more towards, making clothes for women, like skirts, dresses, things like that.

So I don't know what my style is.

It's mainly work where I'm in the warehouse a lot still to this day.

So you would call it workwear or casual or combination of both?

A combination of both, for sure.

Okay.

But workwear I like that.

That's a that's a unique term.

Yeah.

- Okay, now, Sal, tell me about styling.

You did all of the designers in the fashion show.

You styled to them?

So tell me about styling.

- So styling for a fashion is a bit more organizational.

It's about making sure that every designer has their models, thinking about the run of show, which model will be with which designer and how that impacts their changing time.

Being in contact with designers to just get an understanding of their brand, especially if it's a newer one to me, making sure that their run of show is correct, the way that each model files out and- - So it tells a story.

- Each design, so that it tells a story and that it just looks cohesive.

- So tell me about, as you are styling, say, a model, you're picking the shoes, you're picking the hat, you're picking the purse, you're picking the accessories.

How do you do that?

How do you coordinate that?

- Well, I think about each designer and their aesthetic.

For example, Alex has a harder aesthetic, but it's also a little vintage.

It reminds me of Alexander McQueen, but it also reminds me of like 1800 fashions (chuckles).

So we can have a little fun with metals and chunkier shoes and maybe throw in a vintage pump, you know, to kinda like round out her designs.

But for someone like Gente, who I was more consulting with, I was there to really help him figure out what looked the best on which model.

I would say just making sure the vibe was right.

- Now here's a question for all of you.

Is there a fundamental difference between New York style and Chicago style?

from a everyday perspective in New York, what you wear is a bit set for the day, especially if you're commuting, if you have a place to go right after work.

You don't have time maybe to travel an hour back to the 'burb or the borough that you live in to get dressed, so what you're wearing really has to last you throughout the day, and I think you have a lot of opportunity to impart a lot of personal style in a place like New York.

You can be more daring because there's so many people.

Nobody's paying attention to you.

And I think in Chicago, a lot of our fashion is, at least our day-to-day fashion, it's more focused around comfort, and we listen to the elements a bit more 'cause a lot of us drive, and, you know, it's snowy and it's cold.

So I would just think personal style wise, it's a bit more comfort based in Chicago.

And then on the designer side, I would say as a stylist, I think designers here have the opportunity to sell their clothes.

I believe that you can own a store, you can operate a store, you can have people actually support your work.

So, Maggie, what is Chicago style?

I think Chicago style is really individual.

I think one of the things I've worked in New York as well, and I think that designers here don't have to be as focused on the trends they can be a little bit outside of the system and create something that's like totally their own from their own experience.

And I think that that's much harder in New York because they're looking to fit you into a very specific niche, whereas Chicago gives a lot more freedom to designers, just as I was saying.

And you can kind of find your people, they can shop with you, you can grow your brand with them.

I think that's a huge difference versus being in in New York, you are able to really develop your own personality here.

This is a general question for all of you.

What is the difference between style and fashion?

I personally think that there is a big.

Difference, a big difference.

So I think that the fashion culture, you know, there are a lot of people that are very loyal to brands or very loyal to specific designers and will tend to dress head to toe.

And that designer.

Armani.

Right.

I think Helen Fisher.

Absolutely.

Okay.

I think for, you know, our age group, you know, you've got Rick Owens, Balenciaga, these very trendy kind of brands that evoke some type of like personality that is pre-prescribed by the designer.

- That's style.

- That's fashion.

- That's fashion.

Okay.

So what's style?

- I think style is not dictated by what designer you're wearing, who you're wearing.

I think it's very much about self-expression.

You know, you can have three pieces that are under $100 and be the best dressed in the room if you really come with jewelry, accessories, even, you know, personal things that maybe you've made or altered.

I think that really is what fashion is about rather than being head-to-toe designer or head-to-toe vintage, whatever you might do, and I think that that's really important.

And I think as a designer it's very important to work with stylists like Sal in order to bring that style out.

- So as a designer, do you prefer to work with a stylist or do you do it yourself?

- That depends.

So I've worked as a stylist as well as as a designer, and, you know, I've talked about this before.

I kind of have a hard time letting go of that sense of control, but at the same time, I think what's so important about being a designer is you are nothing without your models and you are nothing without your stylists.

It's so important to bring in a different perspective to your collection and to your universe, and I think that building a team of really trusted people is the way to success.

So somebody comes to your shop and they buy an outfit.

Do you help them with this is the shoe you should wear.

This is how your hair should be.

These are the kind of earrings you should wear.

Or it's like, buy your dress and go home and do what you will.

I think that depends on the consumer.

You know, I think personally, something that I love is when people take a piece and style it completely differently to how it was presented on the runway or in an editorial, kind of back to what we're talking about style, like really putting that personal edge into what I'm creating.

You know, of course, if advice is warranted, I will absolutely give that.

But again, I think it's really beautiful to see it exist outside of the universe that you put it in initially.

- Okay, so, Manny, define a well-dressed person.

- I think, like she was saying, the difference between style and fashion is very, very, it's huge.

I personally love working with stylists.

I like to let them, you know, I work with stylists that I have a similar vibe or similar eye to me, but that just obviously from the outside looking in, having somebody else come in and see it differently, I think it's great.

And that's why I like to just focus on creating the pieces and have somebody in the team that can put it together.

style is everything.

There's the fashion wouldn't really work without the style.

You know, it also depends on what it is that you're targeting the audience that you're targeting.

So, in my case, I do get a lot of those questions.

People that they didn't think fashion was for them.

So now they're starting to kind of, get into it now.

Because you created a new something.

Yeah.

I don't know how to wear a Western shirt with these, super wide baggy pants and things like that.

So, I think it is cool to see that.

And I do like to answer to help people as much as I can if they ask, you know, but I do think, like you said, without a stylist, it would be very tough for me to see, like, my pieces, especially when it comes to professional models as well.

Models are very important, too, as I've learned.

It's a big difference between just picking somebody, your cousin to do a shoe versus a professional model who knows how to move, who knows how to put things together.

And so when you got all those three things together, the fashion just goes to a whole nother level.

- Okay, Sal, so here's a question.

This is a generic question.

I don't care about age.

I don't care about body type.

I don't care where you live.

What's a well-dressed person looking like?

- A well-dressed person irons their clothes.

A well-dressed- - They iron their clothes?

- They iron or they steam their clothes.

A well-dressed person does not go outside wrinkled because that cheapens your outfit.

- That's right.

- So, oh, makes my eye twitch.

A well-dressed person, if their shirt is tucked in their pants, they're wearing a belt.

A well-dressed person considers their accessories and how they represent their personal identity.

And a well-dressed person invests in leather shoes and a good coat.

- Leather shoes, good coat, no wrinkles.

- No wrinkles.

And a belt.

- And a belt.

All right, so what about color?

What colors should you wear, or colors come, I mean, every year we've got the fall colors are, the spring colors are, the summer colors are.

Well, that's really kind of a retail promotional, so you just keep buying.

You know, I got a black dress, but now I need a red one, and I need a yellow one, and then I need a green one, then I need a short one, then I need long.

So it's just, you know, you just making me spend money.

But what colors are basic?

What colors are a must for your wardrobe?

I'm thinking about a person out there, "I don't have a lot of money.

I can't buy 10 dresses, but I can buy one good one."

What color should you be looking at?

- I- - Or does it matter?

- I was gonna say, I think that goes back to the style versus fashion question.

I do think everybody, every person who wants to wear a dress, I'm not gonna say woman, but if you wanna wear a dress, you should have a black one.

And then whatever color suits you, right?

I don't think purple is my color at all.

So I would never buy a purple dress.

I would more likely buy an orange dress or a yellow dress 'cause that would flatter me.

- Why not a purple dress?

- I just personally think it clashes with my undertone.

- With your skin.

Okay.

- Yeah, but if you know your tones, then you know your colors.

- But that's the key point.

- You can get you a nice dress.

- Key point is that you should buy not for the color but for your skin tones.

- For how it looks on you 'cause sometimes, you know, if you get something that's too light of a pink, you'll look sick.

Green makes our skin looks a little ill.

So you have to be careful.

- I can't wear beige.

- Yeah, it might make you look washed out.

- It all, I was going to say, I'm all washed out.

Everything's the same color.

Okay, so, Maggie, just like the rest of the world has changed, fashion buying has changed, how we buy clothes has changed.

So how has online buying, boutique buying...

It used to be that you went to the big department store and bought.

That has changed.

How has that affected fashion?

- I think it's affected fashion in lot of ways.

I mean, I think it's, I personally really struggle with buying online because I am a fit person.

- Mm-hmm, wanna see it.

- And so immediately, I wanna see the fabric, I wanna touch it.

You know, for my personal style, I struggle with online shopping.

I'm not an online shopper.

I would rather shop in person any day of the week.

I know that's not a popular opinion for a lot of people.

But I think that's actually coming back a bit.

So I think hopefully, fingers crossed we'll see more in-person shopping.

But it really changes the way that designers have to sell, because they have to have images that sell for the online.

Whereas before, if you have something you would take and someone is walking through, they can pick it up, they can check it out, but otherwise that makes that photography, that styling even more crucial.

The social media is has a huge impact on this because you can catch somebody I really quickly throw out scrolling through their Instagram, and they can go to your online store and buy something.

I think the online has also made stores a little more hesitant to try to step outside the box because they're going with what's safe, because if you are shopping online, and you say, "Hmm, I don't know," that ruffle, maybe it's in a weird place.

Like, it might be fabulous on you.

You might love it.

- Or maybe it doesn't look good on you - Or maybe it doesn't look good on you, but you don't know, and then the whole returns thing is another ecological disaster because a lot of those things people think when you ship it back to the store.

- You wore it.

- Well no, not just that.

I mean, even if you don't wear it, a lot of stores, they don't restock it.

It often goes to a landfill, and a lot of people don't know that.

And so like sometimes people will say, "Well, I returned it.

It doesn't matter," but it does.

There was a huge article in "The Atlantic" about it, if anyone wants to do a deep dive.

- I remember that.

I saw that.

Do you do colors?

Do you change colors per season?

- Yeah, so personally, you know, as you can see, I'm very much a neutral kind of girl.

- You're basic.

- Yes.

- Good.

- I love a black kind of outfit, but I am not the consumer.

So I am very interested in color.

My background is actually in oil painting.

I initially went to college to be an oil painter.

And so color I think is such an incredible tool, you know, kind of similarly to what Sal was saying, to bring out different features in different people.

And so actually my latest collection is probably my most explorative endeavor into color.

So I'm very interested in relativity, the way that colors look next to each other and the way that that changes the way that we perceive it.

So yeah, I actually did explore a lot of green, some red and some beige, which I feel like is diverse in terms of, you know, different people purchasing.

And I also think it's important to push yourself with pattern and color.

I think for a lot of young designers, you know, it's safe to do the neutrals, it's safe to do that kind of thing because it is more quote, unquote, "digestible," but I think in terms of showing your range, and again, like pushing yourself, it's really important to dive into those.

- Okay, so here's another kind of basic question about fashion.

Does expense matter?

How much an item costs?

Does expense matter?

Now let me give you an example.

My mother was a shoe lady.

She liked shoes, but she would say, but don't buy a cheap shoe.

It's better for you to have one good pair of black leather shoes than for shoes that are maybe cheaper.

And one red and one yellow and one green and one gray.

One pair of black shoes.

So does expense.

Does it matter?

Yes, she was right.

I think the costs matter.

And also where you purchase matters.

I believe you can find something really awesome at a vintage shop, a thrift store maybe it was $3.

I vintage.

I, I love it.

My shirt's vintage is a vintage.

Sure it is.

It's a vintage Ralph Lauren shirt that's been printed over.

So wait, now there's some creativity there.

The shirt is a basic white shirt.

It's a basic Ralph Lauren shirt.

And then you printed over the shirt.

I didn't, somebody did.

Okay.

And then you got it in the vintage shop.

Yes.

So for expense sometimes maybe you don't go to the, department store, but you could pick up a better quality for maybe the same money.

And something that's more interesting this year was $30.

If you go into Zara and you pick up something, it's $30.

It is a plain shirt, there is no pattern.

And it's cheap.

And it's cheap and it's going to rip in four weeks.

So even once.

You wash it, you can't wash. You can't wash it because it's going to shrink.

So I think when you change your mind about where you're shopping and how much value your dollar holds, that opens up some room for you.

Like I always say, compare it to Zara.

Go to the website.

If you're feeling weird about buying something, maybe from a smaller designer or a vintage shop compared to what's on Zara, and I promise you, you will feel better about buying it because Zara is selling you something so basic, so cheap, so made by children.

Thought I was gonna call me and say I'm sorry.

Yeah.

Defamation of clothing.

No it wasn't.

So what you're really talking about?

We're really talking about quality.

We've had a wonderful conversation, Chicago style, with Chicago designers talking about fashion and don't let New York get in front of us because we've got our own style.

And you should know what it is.

But the best style is your very own.

I'm her main Hartman with the indigo Studio.

Thank you for watching.

For more information on this show, follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

Funding for this program was provided by Illinois State The Chicago Community Trust Cine City Studios, Lamborghini, Chicago, Gold Coast and Downers Grove.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois.

Commonwealth Edison City And the Illinois Health Plan.

N'digo Studio.