The Threads of ReFashioning History
with Josh Chernoff and Maribel Melanson

Wednesday, October 16, 2024
Exhibit Viewing 6:30 – 7:00 p.m.
Talk 7:00 – 8:00 p.m.

In-person event*
At the Evanston History Center
225 Greenwood Street, Evanston, IL

Free & Open to All
RSVP Required, scroll down to RSVP

Through our community’s generosity, we can offer these free programs! Please consider donating $10 to support our ongoing free public programming.

About the event:

Join ReFashioning History juror Josh Chernoff, Founder of Suitable Fabrications, and winning designer Maribel Melanson for a discussion on refashioning history behind the scenes and throughout time. Hear about Maribel’s process of using the Evanston History Center’s costume collection to design her butterfly dress, including how she took historical references of craftsmanship and aesthetics to represent a visual narrative of womanhood, progress, and empowerment. Josh will provide a glimpse into how the jurors made their decisions, and together Josh and Maribel will discuss movements and examples of refashioning and repurposing fashion. Come early- the ReFashioning History exhibit will be open for special pre-talk evening viewing hours from 6:30-7 p.m.

*This in person event will also be streamed on Facebook Live for those who cannot make it in person. No need to rsvp if joining on Facebook Live.

About the presenters:

Josh Chernoff is a long-time Evanston resident. He arrived in Evanston with his wife Julie in 1989 to attend Northwestern’s Kellogg Graduate School of Business, where he received his MBA. In parallel with a 35-year career in corporate retail strategy consulting, he pursued his artistic passion as a quilter, mosaicist, occasional apparel sewist, and collector of vintage sewing machines. After retiring as a partner from Ernst and Young, he started his own executive coaching practice, which he conducts in parallel with his creative business, Suitable Fabrications.

Maribel Melanson is a patternmaker, technical designer, and product development specialist with a mission to create innovative and sustainable fashion. A graduate of the Illinois Institute of Art and IADT in Las Vegas, she holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Fashion Design. One of Maribel’s latest achievements is being one of the four winners of the Refashioning History event in Evanston with The Butterfly Dress, a night to remember. She believes anyone can succeed in fashion as long as they are willing to learn the rules—so they can eventually break them. Being a fashion rebel and swimming against the currents is what she does.

RSVP and reserve your spot!

Please click the blue “Going” button below to RSVP. A confirmation email will be sent to the email you registered with.

If you don’t receive a confirmation email, please email Erin Hughes at ehughes@evanstonhistorycenter.org.