Chicago fashion designer transforms ‘household work’ into artwork

CHICAGO — Mats Dahlberg, a designer, is making a fashion statement in his home studio.  

“I think most fashion is art, but I love the idea that instead of putting a painting up on the wall and staring at it, you can put it on yourself and embody it,” Dahlberg said.

The bold creations are really expressions of Dahlberg’s personality –equal parts passionate and playful.

“I think everyone should tap into that inner child,” Dahlberg said. “I just sort of shed the pretenses of adult life and let go and have fun.”

Dahlberg is a Columbia College graduate, and a full-time fashion designer who crafts colorful costumes mainly for drag shows.

“I never really wanted to follow the rules,” he said.

Neither the clothes, nor their creator fit neatly into a category.  

“My gender is non-binary, which just means I’m not a man and I’m not a woman,” Dahlberg said. “So, I just think those labels are archaic and they seem a little bit too confining for how I experience the world.”

Drag is a special form of fashion that exaggerates the personality of the performer wearing it.

“It’s like stepping into a fully new persona,” Dahlberg said. “It allows you so much more freedom. RuPaul loves to say, ‘We’re all born naked, and the rest is drag.’”

Dahlberg says the strict definitions that separate mainstream fashion between “men’s and women’s clothes” actually close the imagination:  “I think people like to get stuck in patterns and love to sort of fit in with the pack and I like to challenge people to stand out a little more, and sort of embody more space and take up more room – even if that is just visually in public.” 

Dahlberg’s designs start as sketches. He uses geometry to turn two-dimensional drawings into a three-dimensional fabric.

“I love to see my garments fully embodied,” Dahlberg said. “Looking at something limply on a hanger is so much different from performing full out, and giving the garment the energy it truly deserves.”

The ideas are inspired by anime, video games, and even children’s fantasy books.

“Then I start sketching,” Dahlberg said. “Then I source materials. I make all of my own patterns, then I draft patterns, cut out the fabric, and then go from there.”

A recurring theme Dahlberg explores is the beauty of the natural world – specifically the essential elements that often go unnoticed.

“I like to make the micro macro, so I like to look at things like single cell organisms, and fungi, and mold, and bugs and the things that are around us constantly but might not catch our eye, and I like to blow them up and make them undeniable,” he said.

One thing that is undeniable is Dahlberg’s lineage. The fourth-generation maker’s great-grandmother hand-crafted her own doilies. Now, the Dahlberg is updating them having a creative conversation across generations.  

“In a way, I feel like I’m continuing the tradition of making and it feels so of momentous to me to ort of continue the lineage – sort of finish the work that she started, and elevate it to a place of fine art,” Dahlberg said.  

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