DiscarDisco 2024: PatchWERK was a creative triumph! Now we need your help to make it a success.
What an incredible night! The looks were phenomenal, the art was gorgeous, the tunes were bumping, and the community feeling flowed all around us. We really couldn’t have asked for a better outcome for all the work our designers and organizers put into DiscarDisco 2024.
Also, a generous donor has agreed to match donations to DiscarDisco up to $15,000, but we only have until Friday, April 19th to make the match!
Help us achieve our goal, and donate to vote for your favorite designer for the People’s Choice Award!
You can do this by choosing to “write us a comment” and comment the name of your favorite designer with your donation!
Runway photos from DiscarDisco 2024 by GlitterGuts (Sarah Joyce) and Brittany Sowacke
Video by Francis Son Photo
Learn more about all the designers here!
Check out the full show program here!
Here are the winners who impressed the judges and carried off the prizes at DiscarDisco on Saturday, April 13th at the Chicago Athletic Association.
Honorable Mentions
Designer: Kristin Abhalter Smith (she/her) and Eliza Fernand (they/she) team
IG: @anotherworldsend, @queer.quilting.chi
Bio: Kristin has a lifelong practice making costumes, sets, inflatable sculptures and art exhibitions and is totally inspired by abundant scraps. Eliza grew up on thrift stores and wanted to be a fashion designer since they started sewing at age 12 with the same sewing machine they have now. Eliza also has two art degrees and they are a professor.
Designer: Jessica Woodburn (she/her)
IG: @holzbrennenstudio
Bio: Jessica has been a maker since 2018 but started using up-cycled items in 2020 and started sewing in 2022. She also hosts workshops on up-cycled fabric earrings and shrinky dink jewelry from #6 plastic.
Designer: Jordan Chavez (he/him)
Bio: Jordan is a multimedia artist that focuses on creating avant-garde wearable art with a folk approach. He loves using accessible found materials to execute oversized silhouettes that impact how one interacts with their environment. His rural upbringing, studies in fine art, and queer lens all serve him in creating works that are familiar yet strange and new.
3rd Place Winner
Designer: Kandace McVickar (she/her)
IG:@kandymcv
Bio: By daytime, Kandace is a technical trade designer, by night time she creates one of a kind looks for her and her dear friends. She has a passion for creating digital art and upcycling denim, textile samples and other damaged items from her 9-5.
Kandace McVickar’s Toucan Tango modeled by DeeVower
2nd Place Winner
Designer: J Kent (she/her & they/them)
Youtube:@CompostRoses
Bio: J Kent has a BFA from SAIC and an MFA from Northwestern University. Her practice engages bounty amidst professed scarcity. They have been teaching themselves sewing and construction and is excited to merge her constructions with a long-held interest in fashion.
Detail of J Kent’s winning combination for DiscarDisco 2024, TRASH GIRLZ: CHANEL IN THE STREETS/ WESTWOOD IN THE SHEETS
1st Place Winner
Designer: Hillary Rings (she/her)
IG: @hillary.rings
Bio: Hillary is a fashion designer, she graduated from the Apparel Design & Development program from Seattle Central in 2022 and moved to Chicago in 2023. She loves designing but hates waste so she sources second hand materials as often as possible.
Hillary Rings accepting the 1st place prize for her piece in DiscarDisco 2024. Look modeled by Zai Jazai
DiscarDisco is The WasteShed’s major annual fundraiser, we depend on donations to this event to fund our programs.
Thank you to our Emcee and Video Host!
Thank you to our DiscarDisco Judges!
DiscarDisco 2024 Judges Sky Cubacub, Lauren Lein, Blair Goldman, Melissa Carter, and J Frausto
Special thanks to The Apparel Industry Board, Inc.
AIBI is a non-profit organization specifically dedicated to the needs of the sewn products industry. AIBI is comprised of the major players in Greater Chicago, whose careers and business expertise span all facets of the industry, to nurture and support designers based in Greater Chicago. AIBI is constantly developing new programs to better serve and promote the industry as a whole.
AIBI has been a gracious advisor and co-producer of DiscarDisco since 2020.
2024 DiscarDisco Supporters + Contributors
Fleur, Wolfbait, Andros Taverna, Koval, Letherbee, Solemn Oath, Hopewell Brewing, Pipeworks Brewing, Halfacre Brewing
All Together Now, Verve Wine / Argot, Bee's Wrap, Bang Bang Pie, Pretty Cool Ice Cream, Honey Butter Fried Chicken
Joffery Ballet, Garfield Park Conservatory, Sprout, Lillstreet Art Center, Blick
Donald W Collier Foundation
Miles Bennett Hogerty, Paper Worm Studio
Jill Perez,CAA
Syd Haliburton, CAA
Sarah Joyce, Glitter Guts Photo
Brittany Sowacke, Glitter Guts Photo
DJ BrutalRuby of Birds & B-Sides DJs
Mimi Ozormoor
All our incredible volunteers!
2024 Discardisco Planning Committee
Kat Anderson, AIBI
Ulisa Blakely, WS Staff
Wendy Callupe, Minted Media Productions
Ambar Campos, AIBI
Yolanda Chen
Grace Diepenbrock, WS Board
Marilyn Eiseberg, WS Board
Kristin Fields, WS Board
Seva Gandhi, WS Board
Earl Mitchell, WS Staff
Frank Pollard, WS Staff
Casey Vanderstel, WS Board
Katie Vota, WS Board
Eleanor Ray, WS Staff
Francis Son, Francis Son Photography
The DiscarDisco Organizing Team! These people have all put in an amazing amount of work on getting this show together! Help reward their efforts by donating today!
Thank you to our Gold Sponsor, Ette Tailor!
Ette provides couture wedding gown alterations, vintage wedding gown revamping, bespoke services, and accessories, all perfectly tailored to fit your body and style.
Stay tuned for more updates!
Getting too excited to wait for the final DiscarDisco 2024 video? Check out 2023 show!
Videography by Francis Son, edited by Drew Durepos and Adam Geremia.