PASSION TO PROFESSION: BEST DRESSED
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.
MAY 4, 2019
PTP’s second event at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, specifically geared toward engaging with youth and emerging designers interested in pursuing a creative career in the streetwear fashion industry. The event, curated in conversation with Virgil Abloh’s highly anticipated Figures of Speech exhibition at the MCA, invited folks to come out and speak on their professional creative experiences, strategies, missteps, and success stories.
Guest speakers DesMoney, Sheila Rashid, and Kristopher Kites contributed with individual presentations, followed by an open panel discussion with event attendees. After final questions the audience was invited to get hands-on in PTP’s first full scale workshop — a DIY tote design challenge using provided materials like fabric markers, paint, stencils, and gems.
*ABOUT THE PROGRAM:
Passion to Profession is a workshop series founded by curator Anisa Olufemi, co-facilitated by artist-educator Jada-Amina, that aims to create a welcoming, informative, and productive space for youth and professional artists to imagine pathways to a sustainable career in the arts.
ABOUT THE GUEST SPEAKERS:
Kristopher Kites is a clothing and jewelry designer from the South Side of Chicago whose recent, well received action figure themed debut collection of jewelry, Conversation Pieces, was featured in fashion blogs including Vogue.
Sheila Rashid is a self-taught, Chicago-born and based seamstress and designer whose pieces confront and curtail gender identity. Rashid's unisex brand takes a new approach to creativity, simplicity, and persistency. Rashid’s goal has been to design with a unique perspective and an acute attentiveness to detail. Each of her pieces are made-to-order and reflect her own sense of style, combining both tomboy and feminine qualities.
Desmond "Des Money" Owusu, Fat Tiger Workshop’s cofounder, is a creative, design artist, and educator. His language of art includes product design and content that translates his experiences as a Chicago native born and raised on the South Side of Chicago..