{"id":35665,"date":"2016-03-15T17:35:50","date_gmt":"2016-03-15T22:35:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=35665"},"modified":"2016-03-15T17:35:50","modified_gmt":"2016-03-15T22:35:50","slug":"urban-threads-mixes-fashion-and-youth-outreach-in-chicago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/urban-threads-mixes-fashion-and-youth-outreach-in-chicago\/","title":{"rendered":"Urban Threads mixes fashion and youth outreach in Chicago"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Alexandra Whittaker<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fledgling fashion designers dream of showing their work at high profile fashion weeks, whether in Chicago or Milan. It can take years for this to happen, but a group of Chicago high school students accomplished this last fall.<\/p>\n

The students showed at Chicago Fashion Week in the (PRO)jectUs Street Bias Fashion Show sponsored by Kenneth Cole in October. They arrived via an after school program at Urban Threads<\/a>, a Chicago not-for-profit that teaches design and textile production to youth from under-served communities. The program is part of the larger After School Matters,<\/a> a non-profit organization that helps teens find paid apprenticeships in arts, communications and sports programs in Chicago. As an After School Matters affiliate, Urban Threads offers programming in textile arts and fashion design.<\/p>\n

Since April 2013, Urban Threads has drawn more than 150 students to its studio at the Bridgeport Art Center and more than 350 students through off-site programs. Started last summer, the high school program attracted enough attention to prompt an invitation to Chicago Fashion Week<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Victoria Bell, 14, is one of the young people who participated. A returning Urban Threads student, she has attended every session since the program began. Students meet on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays after school to work on textile and fashion patterning.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been taught the basics, like hand sewing. We\u2019ve made pillows. Our teacher Bryana [Bibbs] taught us how to weave,\u201d said Bell, who wore a faux leather bomber jacket with white sleeves that she made in class. \u201cI just like making things. I like the challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year\u2019s Fashion Week was especially challenging for the class since they were working on only one week\u2019s notice. Nonetheless, they managed to pull off a lively show, with almost the entire class of 17 students walking the runway in the dyed T-shirts and slashed jeans they styled themselves.<\/p>\n

\"Urban<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
The Urban Threads Studio is located at the Bridgeport Art Center in Chicago (Alexandra Whittaker\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Urban<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Students work on a weaving project with different colored threads. (Alexandra Whittaker\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"three\"<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Bundles of yarn sit in a bin for students to grab while they work on a threading project at Urban Threads.(Alexandra Whittaker\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Urban<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Posters at the Urban Threads studio send positive messages about problem solving. (Alexandra Whittaker\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Urban<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Victoria Bell, 14, works on a threading project while wearing a bomber jacket that she made. (Alexandra Whittaker\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Urban<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
The fabric wall at the Urban Threads studio is full of brightly colored fabric options for students to choose from. (Alexandra Whittaker\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"seven\"<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
A group of high school students works on a threading project at the Urban Threads studio in Chicago. (Alexandra Whittaker\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"eight\"<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
A rack of string sits on the countertop at the Urban Threads studio. (Alexandra Whittaker\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Urban<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Michelle Santoro (right), the artistic director and co-founder of Urban Threads, works with a high schools student on deconstructing a fabric pocket. (Alexandra Whittaker\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n

Michelle Santoro, artistic director and co-founder of Urban Threads, called Chicago Fashion Week a cool experience for the students. She and co-founder Ilona Mestril created Urban Threads as a joint venture six years ago, combining their love of fashion and textile arts with a desire to help the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re amazing complements,\u201d said Santoro of herself and Mestril. \u201cThis work teaches persistence and grit, and you don\u2019t have many ways of teaching this that are fun like [textile design]. You think it\u2019s easy, but it\u2019s not. And when [the students] are done, they\u2019re like \u2018Wow!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Santoro said the improvement in her students goes beyond just mastering fashion skills.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe recently made baskets,\u201d said Santoro, \u201cand we had a boy in class who said \u2018Sewing is for girls,\u2019 and didn\u2019t participate at first. He got inspired because one of the other boys did it, and then he decided to join in. He came in not wanting to be there and left successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bibbs, an Urban Threads textile instructor who graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2014, said that she sees the success in her students often, but it isn\u2019t always easy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m learning to be more patient. High school students dabbling in this is different than college,\u201d said Bibbs. \u201cI\u2019m learning more about myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

When she taught at Urban Threads for the first time last fall, Bibbs knew it would be a good fit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI taught [the students] basic weaving on a cardboard cutout loom,\u201d said Bibbs. \u201cI can see that it is really peaceful for them, and that is an awesome thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo at top: Bins from the Urban Threads classroom at the Bridgeport Art Center. (Alexandra Whittaker\/MEDILL)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Alexandra Whittaker Fledgling fashion designers dream of showing their work at high profile fashion weeks, whether in Chicago or Milan. It can take years for this to happen, but a group of Chicago high school students accomplished this last fall. The students showed at Chicago Fashion Week in the (PRO)jectUs Street Bias Fashion Show […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":219,"featured_media":35682,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194,585],"tags":[652,648,1436,2128,180,2127],"class_list":["post-35665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-culture","category-winter-2016","tag-chicago-fashion-week","tag-fashion","tag-fashion-week","tag-textile-design","tag-urban","tag-urban-threads"],"yoast_head":"\nUrban Threads mixes fashion and youth outreach in Chicago - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/urban-threads-mixes-fashion-and-youth-outreach-in-chicago\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Urban Threads mixes fashion and youth outreach in Chicago - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Alexandra Whittaker Fledgling fashion designers dream of showing their work at high profile fashion weeks, whether in Chicago or Milan. 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