The Evanston History Center has one of the largest costume collections in the state, totaling over 20,000 pieces and spanning from the early 19th century to today. Yet most of the time, these items are kept hidden in storage. “reFashioning History” aims to change that.
“reFashioning History” is a show, fundraiser and exhibition at the Evanston History Center featuring pieces by Chicago area designers and inspired by a selection from the center’s historical collection. The exhibition is also part of Chicago Fashion Week, which takes place across Chicagoland from Oct. 9 to 19.
The theme for “reFashioning History” 2025 was “Pleats to Meet You,” and nine designers unveiled their interpretations on Sept. 18. The designers were split into two categories, professionals and students.
In April, designers in the area were invited to view the center’s collection of pieces featuring pleats. They submitted mood boards and drawings to a jury, and the jury selected finalists to begin putting designs together.
On Tuesday, four of the nine finalists returned to the historic Charles Gates Dawes House to participate in a designers’ panel. Jess Crane and Aamina Haykal-Iyare are professional designers, and the other two, Gabby Garza and Sam Pogson, are student designers.
During the panel, the designers discussed how history served as their inspiration.
“It’s really important for designers to be able to see and understand fashion history,” Haykal-Iyare said.
For example, she noted, men’s buttons are typically on the left while women’s are on the right, which comes from a history of women being dressed by others. This is not typical today, but the difference in button placement still exists, Haykal-Iyare said, explaining that context is important for designers to understand.
For her own design, Haykal-Iyare said she was inspired by a 1940s military-style jacket on display from the center’s collection. Coming from a long line of military men, she said she wanted to pay homage to her heritage, and also drew inspiration from the design of a Han Dynasty skirt.
Garza, one of the student designers, said that in addition to fashion design, she also has a passion for research and medical history. She finds creativity through research, she said, and much of her work is inspired by medical history; she believes that “medicine affects everything.”
Her medieval-style dress for “reFashioning History” also took inspiration from The Unicorn Tapestries — tapestries from the late Middle Ages portraying the hunt and capture of a unicorn — and was the showcase winner in the student category.
While several designers interpreted the theme fairly literally, Crane took a different path. Looking at the center’s collection, she honed in on a pair of shoes with tiny pleated petals on the toes. She made that feature the focal point of her own design, noting that she preferred to zoom in on one small part from the collection.
Pogson created a satin and organza jellyfish dress, inspired by research they did on jellyfish for a different project. Pogson said they wanted to use shapes often seen in nature.
The goal of “reFashioning History” is not only to bring more people to the Evanston History Center, but “also to give another platform for designers, some of them young designers, to talk with people in the industry and get their name out there,” said Krista Fabian DeCastro, director of public engagement at the center.
Garza and Pogson, roommates and students at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, both said it was intimidating to work alongside industry professionals as a part of the show.
But splitting the categories between professionals and students, Pogson added, helped alleviate some of the stress of their first professional experience.
“To have this competition where you can turn in whatever you want, as long as it’s together, that’s great,” Pogson said. “It was very freeing. I think it was one of those, ‘I can do whatever I want, but I’m gonna make it look good.’”
For Garza, fashion is a more accessible way to shine a spotlight on both her Mexican culture and interest in medicine.
Through her work, Garza also hopes to bring awareness to time periods in medical history involving experimentation and exploitation, she added.
“A lot of history gets erased, and I don’t want that to happen,” Garza said. “I think that an artist should platform things that are important to them, that are important to the world, that need to be heard and that need to be seen.”
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