Seller Story: Evelyn Daichtman, Chicago, IL

“A few months after 9/11, I was living in New York and volunteering. My heart was killing me, and I felt the need for a project that could support things that mattered to me. I wanted to open a space that would be a platform for people doing good works and realizing their creative dreams. A mentor advised me to come to Chicago, so I started splitting my time between the two cities. I was in line at Stanley’s, [a Chicago grocery store], when a woman tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Excuse me, this is going to sound crazy, but I’ve been clairvoyant since I was young and I can tell that you are about to do something really, really big from what appears to be nothing.”

At the time, I was living on the West Side of Chicago in an industrial building with all these artists, still working 4-6 weeks at a time in New York, because I could make a living there doing massage. While in New York I would go to the Chelsea flea market with fashion industry people like Stella McCartney’s consultant and Jill Stewart. They had access to vintage clothing archives, textile museum warehouses and collections I was privy to. I would bring back really cool stuff to Chicago that no one else had here, which I kept in my second bedroom. My neighbor, a photographer, would borrow pieces all the time, saying, “You have a business here in your second bedroom.”

I taught myself how to sew and began reinterpreting textiles into jackets and hoodies. I opened Open Secret Studios, which housed by vintage collection, and where I’d host shows, private events, and styling for the Oscars and photoshoots. And then it became a hub for music, culture, fashion, art, food, speaker panels, activations and launches. I helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for things like fighting human trafficking, ALS research, arts programs for kids, homelessness, fair trade–the list goes on. It’s been an amazing, moving experience.” -Evelyn Daitchman

After amassing your phenomenal collection of vintage, how did you discover your talent for designing?

The first fashion show was just vintage clothing and couture, but I felt like I had to make a statement. I made an outfit out of an oversized sweater. It was a very fitted jacket and mini skirt, trimmed in repurposed mink from coats. It was amazing. People stood up and were cheering and there were two women fighting over the piece at the end of the show. I ended up selling the jacket to one woman and the skirt to the other.

Is there a story behind the vintage kimono collection?

I met a guy when I did Brimfield who came in from Japan to buy vintage men’s leather jackets from America. I get kimonos from him. Most of the things in the sale are used in fashion shows, photoshoots, or just props for the space.

You were able to create something really impactful in a dark time.

In times like those, or in times like these, you feel so small, like you can’t get your hands on the wheel, so to speak. I would definitely recommend meditation, writing and volunteer work. They bring perspective and make you bigger in the face of adversity, or when the picture doesn’t look like you want it to. When you do what makes you happy, people feel it. Giving back makes the colors so much richer, it makes your senses so much more alive.