Vogue designer Stevie Edwards, recognised for his avant-garde womenswear and work styling celebs like Diana Ross and Jody Watley, died previously this 7 days immediately after a struggle with lung most cancers. He was 58.
A longtime Hyde Parker, Edwards was born in 1965 and grew up on the South Side. He attended Dunbar Vocational High University in Bronzeville, the place he realized to tailor. This led him to pursue style layout at the Ray-Vogue Higher education of Structure, now the Illinois Institute of Artwork.
It was in college or university exactly where Edwards caught the eye of Eunice Johnson, an govt and the matriarch of Johnson Publishing Corporation, which made Ebony and Jet Journals, and the founder of the Ebony Style Good clearly show. In 1986, when Edwards was only 21 decades outdated, Johnson acquired various of his leather-based night robes for her around the world vogue tour. His occupation shortly took off.
That winter, a person of Edwards’ dress patterns was showcased in the February concern of Ebony Magazine as element of a group of up-and-coming Black designers “making fashion historical past.” He built an visual appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show in its inaugural period that 12 months.
Following the exhibit, Edwards began doing work as an assistant to notable Chicago designers this kind of as Barbara Bates, who created various pieces for Michael Jordan, and Reginald Thomas.
The designer Edwards admired most was Chicago designer Keith Kendall, in accordance to a 1999 Herald report, who mentored him. In the posting, Edwards described himself as a “true designer,” stating, “I sketch the layouts, minimize the designs and sew them with each other, as opposed to hiring anyone else to do the precise work.”
In 1996, Edwards opened Collections, a boutique apparel and shoe retail outlet in Hyde Park. Located at 1360 E. 53rd Road, the shop carried his types and the function of designers such as Kenneth Cole and Through Spiga.
“I wanted men and women not to have to go downtown,” he claimed of opening the Hyde Park retail store. “They can appear into the group and feel an Oak Street vibe and purchase their Italian footwear in this article.”
More than the next number of years, he opened two Italian boutiques in Gold Coastline and the West Loop.
After nine decades in the neighborhood, Collections shut in 2005 subsequent the building’s order by MAC Attributes.
In 2008, he released his upscale women’s manufacturer and South Loop retail store “I Luv Stevie.” Dionne Williams, creator and founder of the “Emerge! Manner Show” at New York Fashion Week, informed WBBM Information Radio that Edwards experienced a present for creating patterns that spoke to women of all ages. “You can be self-assured in regardless of what model that you like. You can be daring. You can be smooth. I consider his patterns genuinely form of showcased that,” she claimed.
Other celeb dressings involved Tiffany Hadish and Terisa Griffin.
Edwards declared on social media in early July that he would be having a crack from trend to concentration on his battle with Phase 3 lung cancer. He received an outpouring of assist — an on the web crowdfunding campaign set up to support go over healthcare costs brought in a lot more than $7,000 in donations.
Whilst undergoing procedure, Edwards died in Chicago on Sunday, August 13.
His spouse and children has requested for donations to be made in his honor to Northwestern University’s Robert H. Lurie Extensive Most cancers Centre.