Last month, Sustainable Fashion Week Chicago (SFWC) returned with its Spring 2026 programming. The multi-day event series united local leaders across fashion, technology, climate, and other industries, to spark cross-sector collaboration for more effective and long-lasting change.
SFWC’s mission is to mobilize and educate communities on the harmful environmental and human rights impacts of the global fashion industry. In doing so, the flagship event, Sustainable Fashion Week, inspires local action and provides solutions to help Chicagoans reduce local waste, curb emissions, and shift consumer behavior.
However, the progress towards a cleaner and fairer fashion future doesn’t exclusively sit with those in the fashion industry. Scores of community members showed up throughout the week to develop new skills, deepen their knowledge of sustainable fashion, expand their community, and learn about the next steps they can take to be a part of the change.
Sustainable Fashion Week Chicago Spring 2026
The 2026 theme for Sustainable Fashion Week Chicago is fashion reimagined. This guided all programming and the topics, which spanned textile innovation, local fashion policy, personal style, secondhand accessibility, hands-on workshops, and creative opportunities — all while building to the epic fashion show finale. Four talented Chicago-based designers showcased their work on the runway. Together, they demonstrate how fashion is both creative and sustainable.
Launch Party
The Sustainable Fashion Week Chicago team kicked-off the season with a launch party to celebrate the community’s shared sustainable values. This evening acted as a way to honor the various people and partners who contributed to the spring program. Plus, it was an opportunity for attendees to learn more about the upcoming events, speak with the designers in attendance, and connect offline with familiar faces typically seen on-screens throughout the year.
Photography: CappaFilm & Productions
Natural Dyeing Class with Laila Textiles Studio
One of the first hands-on workshops of the season was a 3-hour interactive natural dyeing class led by Liz Mortensen of Laila Textiles. Attendees learned the basics of natural dye and how to bundle dye with plants to transform an item and extend a garment’s lifecycle by revamping the design to be updated to attendees style preferences. The process ultimately supports people’s evolving style and provides a creative solution to reducing textile waste by repurposing a pre-owned item.
T-Shirt Screen Printing
Similar to the previous workshops, this bring-your-own t-shirt class in partnership with Remade In Chicago, taught attendees how to screen print and customized t-shirts. This is especially great for t-shirts that have faded in color, design, or feel otherwise unaligned to the wearer’s style.
Virtual Discussion: Innovations in Sustainable Textile Science
Professor Cécile Chazot, joined SFWC to share about her experience as the head of the Sustainable Polymer Innovation Lab at Northwestern University. This discussion was moderated by SFWC’s Co-Executive Director, Sophia Corning. Watch the free recording here.
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Reimagining Chicago: Fashion, Policy, Tech, and Activism
On Earth Day, Sustainable Fashion Week Chicago celebrated the planet and its helpers with a panel and social event. SFWC’s Founder and Executive Director, Macaila Britton, was joined in conversation with Jacob Moeller, the Co-Organizer of Chicago Climate Week, Nicole Ruiz, the Executive Director of the Apparel Industry Board, and Iisha Scott, NBC Meteorologist.
Together, the discussion focused on Chicago’s sustainability progress. Specifically, advancements across circularity in fashion and the cross-sector impact with technology, policy, and the role Chicago play in the transition to a more ethical and environmental future for all.
Photography: Cottontail Studio
What Is Personal Style, Really?
In an hour-long interactive discussion, Co-Executive Director, Sophia Corning, sat down with local fashion experts to explore what personal style really means, what it looks like in Chicago, and how it intersects with sustainability.
Panelists included André Wilson, the Founder of Black Garment Bag, Hannah Linsky, a Fashion Historian and the Founder of GoGo Goods, and Maggie Gillette, a Partner at the Curio and a founding team member of Chicago Fashion Vanguard. Watch or listen to the free playback.
Closing Weekend
During the closing weekend, Sustainable Fashion Week Chicago hosted the Sustainable Fashion Symposium. This half-day speciality event invited a range of local leaders and innovators across the city, to share how they are actively participating in the transition to a more sustainable fashion future. Each session and keynote provided a clear bite-sized takeaway for attendees to integrate into their own lifestyle and wardrobes.
Coclo, a Student-Developed App Reducing Clothing Waste
Samara Blatt, a student at the University of Chicago spoke on her role as the Chief Strategy Officer of Coclo, a marketplace app designed to promote clothing reuse and resale on college campuses. The app’s entire mission is to ensure that they can help college students buy and sell secondhand clothes easier. Coco provides safe public environments for students to buy and sell their items within a controlled community group and price range. While the app is still in its early stages, the impact they’ve made is tremendous. Already, Coclo has helped keep over 1,000 items out of local landfills!
Affordability and Access in the Secondhand Clothing Market
Elizabeth Joy, the founder of the blog, Conscious Life & Style, sat down with two local changemakers to better understand what the secondhand fashion market is like in Chicago. Dani Salazar, the Co-Lead of Manos Entrelezadas Southside Alliance (MESA) shared his input alongside, Mireya Fouché, the Co-Founder of Monarch Thrift Shop. Together, they gave audience members an insight into their mutual aid groups, social enterprise, and what happens when people abuse the secondhand market.
Nothing New: How One Investment Changed Everything
Jodi Doyle, the Founder of UpLevel Redesign shared her remarkable journey of going 600+ days without buying anything new. As a wardrobe stylist, Jodi helps women navigate their closet and lives with more clarity and sustainable alignment.
Age, Expression & Consumption
The award-winning Chicago content creator, Theodora Krochman, had an intimate discussion on aging, with Sophia Corning, SFWC’s Co-Executive Director. The pair talked about society’s beauty standards for women, the age of social media, and how embracing aging is a form of resistance.
Sustainable Fashion Show
Following the Symposium, four talented designers showcased their works to demonstrate how sustainability can align with one’s creativity and act as a source of inspiration for beautiful pieces. Each designer’s processes center manufacturing and development practices that utilize as ethically sourced materials — most notably recycled, regenerated, and reclaimed materials.
Sustainable Fashion Designer, Tukii Tucker
Tukii Tucker is a Chicago-based fashion designer, costume designer, and garment technician whose practice merges sustainable innovation, historical research, and cinematic visual storytelling. Known for sculptural silhouettes, precision tailoring, and advanced pattern development, his work centers identity, heritage, and transformation. A graduate of North Carolina Central University’s Apparel & Textile Design program, Tukii has presented at New York Fashion Week in partnership with Harlem’s Fashion Row and earned first place at the French Embassy’s HBCU Sustainable Fashion Competition.
Tukii Tucker returned to Sustainable Fashion Week Chicago’s runway, to showcase his creative repurposing of single-use packaging materials.
This four-look collection, created in collaboration with Local Style Chips, exemplifies Tukii’s commitment to material innovation and narrative design. Each garment was constructed from recycled potato chip bags — cut, fused, reinforced, and reconstructed into structured textiles — transforming everyday waste into couture-level forms. Traditional cotton thread, repurposed muslin pattern remnants, and reused zippers and hook-and-eye closures reinforce sustainable and minimal waste design practices.
Sustainable Fashion Designer, Angela Aeschliman
New to Sustainable Fashion Week Chicago runway was Angela Aeschliman of Aesch Liman, Co. Born from a commitment to stewardship and timeless design, Aesch Liman, Co. creates evening and resort wear that tells a deeper story, one rooted in artisanship, material integrity, and global connection.
As Angela rejects trend cycles, her work sets to embrace classic sophistication through carefully curated, natural textiles. Her pieces are designed to endure aesthetically, honor the hands that make them, and the bodies that wear them.
Aesch Liman, Co.’s resort collection features handwoven fabrics from a small village in Bangladesh. Garments are crafted from 100% recycled and natural cotton. These textiles are the result of fair trade practices and support an entire community, transforming each garment into a living system of impact, intention, and beauty.
Sustainable Fashion Designer, Josh Drews of Arthouse Clothing
Josh Drews of Arthouse Clothing also returned to Sustainable Fashion Week Chicago. Led by designer, Josh Drews, Arthouse is a fashion house dedicated to transforming existing textiles into original garments.
Each piece is designed and constructed individually, resulting in one-of-a-kind designs that balance craftsmanship with contemporary style.
Working across a wide range of silhouettes, Arthouse produces everything from refined streetwear to elevated, high-fashion pieces. By reimagining existing materials through careful cutting, tailoring, and construction, the brand creates garments that carry both character and intention. Every Arthouse piece is made primarily from reclaimed fabrics, giving new life to textiles while producing distinctive designs that cannot be replicated.
Sustainable Fashion Designer, Patricia Quill
Patricia Quill is a fashion designer focused on structural and avant-garde design. She recently graduated from Harper College with an Associate in Applied Science in Fashion Design, where she refined my technical skills and developed her creative voice. During her time there, a garment from my senior collection was featured on ABC 7 News Chicago while promoting the Fashion Design department and its annual fashion show.
The four looks explore sculptural form, movement, and expressive silhouettes. Developed through a resourceful approach to materials, the garments reflect thoughtful design choices while highlighting how creative use of available resources can contribute to the evolving conversation around sustainability in fashion.
Closing Remarks
Sustainable Fashion Week Chicago wouldn’t be possible without community support — thank you!
Your generosity fuels our mission to unite communities and industries in reimagining fashion for a more sustainable future! As such, Sustainable Fashion Week Chicago strategically manages each donation to ensure its maximum impact. Here’s how we manage every penny from the dollars donated.
SFWC is deeply grateful to Urban Rivers for their generous fiscal sponsorship. Their support has been instrumental in bringing SFW Chicago’s vision of promoting sustainable practices within the fashion industry to life. Together, this partnership proves the ability to make strides toward a more sustainable future, demonstrating the powerful impact of collaboration across different sectors toward our shared goal of supporting and protecting people, the planet, and its resources so communities can live vibrantly, expressively, and wonderfully.
