Chicago-based fashion designer, Alex McDermott, graduated from the School of the Art Institute in 2022. Since then she has established her brand I Am Studios, specializing in couture formal wear. Alex is heavily inspired by her experience with a disabled body. Parsing through the nuances of chronic pain and translating them through storytelling, each collection is a peek into her reality; a doorway to a story that words fail to describe. Pulling inspiration from armor, science fiction, and the natural world, whilst paying homage to classical tailoring, her work transcends past, present, and future.