Hi there,
I wanted to let you know that we are having our biggest giveaway ever and we doing it with two amazing women. You can read more about them and the giveaway below.
Meet Ann & LIZ
Founder & Designer: Ann Chikahisa
I have always made things THAT I LOVE for the people I love. Finding, crafting, weaving, working, forging, unforging, creating. Like breathing, like blinking, I have been watching my art out of the corner of my eye for a long time. First in flowers, then in yarn and fabric; in two dimensions, and in three; for my children, for my friends; with media enduring and others fleeting; in ways that were at once satisfying and incomplete.
Until, one day, my daughter asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. She listened, expectantly and with limited patience for an answer she believed should not be that hard to give. Like your favorite ice cream flavor? Or what super power you would have if you could pick only one? Knowing what you want to be should lie at the tip of our thoughts. Ready for a bit of luck, a hint of opportunity, a wish.
And in that moment, I knew. Mint chip, when the mint is green and the chips are dark chocolate. Flying, of course. And, an artist. Full time, all the time, my whole soul.
I am self-taught, but I am far from alone. I learned from my mother. Who learned from her’s. To find beauty. To cherish it. To allow it space and time. I learn from other artists about craft, and patience, and effort, and imperfection, and community. And I learn from my children.
I can answer that question now. Any time. Any where.
Chikahisa Studio became official in 2010.
Modern. Sophisticated. Extraordinary.
![Coat Check Chicago outerwear](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1552/8671/files/1_294b0f4b-e26b-46a3-9dc5-f24f223820cd_480x480.png?v=1631720910)
Founder & Designer Elisabeth Williams
I started this business in 2014 after becoming frustrated by the lack of quality garments available on the market.
As a graduate of Parson's School of Design I've always been interested in clothing as a form of expression.
However, my skills as a pattern maker and seamstress were forged while creating costumes some of Chicago's most iconic theatres.
It was during my years as a seamstress that I learned, among other things...
Some of the most beautiful and well-made clothes were constructed decades ago when quality was valued.
Modern garment workers are being extremely undervalued and under-paid.
As a result of a broken fashion system, modern customers were ultimately losing out by having to continually purchase poorly made goods season after season.
With all this in mind I set out to create
something better...modern women's outerwear that could be cherished for years to come, not only because of its timeless style but also because of its quality craftsmanship. Since day one, I've pledged to have my pieces ethically-made right here in the City of Chicago.
My coats and jackets have been tried and tested in a city known for its bad weather. Their functionality is just as important to me as their looks.
It's no accident that I am drawn to outerwear as a means of expressing my values. My only hope is that others may take notice and share in them too.