Sophomore Myles Antelis boarded a plane alone last month and flew to Los Angeles to showcase his newest clothing collection for his first ever professional photoshoot.

Since discovering his interest in clothing at the age of 4, Myles has taken many classes and found teachers and mentors who have helped him develop his sewing skills.

Honing his craft at summer camps, sewing lessons, and on his own, Myles creates clothing lines seen in professional photoshoots, runways, and even on the rack in stores.

“It’s been amazing to watch his creativity develop on such a fast trajectory,” Myles’ mother, Jennifer Levy, said. “He started showing signs of amazing creativity around age 4 or 5.”

As a child, Myles would drape his sister’s Barbie Dolls in fabric and even used chip clips to drape his blankets onto himself or his mom.

“He was just playing with how fabric worked,” said Mrs. Levy, who is a Latin alum. “And that progressed to hand sewing. When he started hand sewing, he was crazy with how many things he would make with his nanny.”

Myles hand sewed his first dress at 7 years old after watching the reality show Project Runway.

“When I first started watching Project Runway, I really found a love for sewing,” Myles said. “I watched a bunch of YouTube videos on my iPad, and then I eventually taught myself.”

After Myles learned to hand sew, he started taking classes at a studio called Sew Crafty, seeking out ways to make his technique better.

“By age 10, he was sewing by machine and creating incredible garments,” Mrs. Levy said. “We then helped him create a studio in our house.”

Gallery • 2 Photos

Tom McDonald

A dress Myles sewed in 2022.

Gallery • 2 Photos

Jennifer Levy

Myles with his line of jackets at popular Chicago boutique Frankie's on the Park.

Myles’ machine-sewed creations have appeared all around. Myles sold his first line of jackets at the popular Lincoln Park boutique Frankie’s on the Park.

He also sewed a dress for a woman performing in a local singing festival in New Buffalo, Michigan.

“During the pandemic, let’s say 2020, we found him a mentor,” Mrs. Levy said. “Myles is so full of ideas but didn’t always know how to really construct garments. He’s been with now for four years this guy named Randall Hill, who is this most wonderful young man, a designer himself.”

Mr. Hill taught Myles the process of getting his ideas out onto patterns, then muslin, then fabrics, and finally onto mannequins.

“Myles has developed this ability to create pieces that are so meticulously constructed,” Mrs. Levy said. “They’re almost like sculptures. Some of his jackets are like sculptures.”

Since getting a mentor, Myles has also attended three years of Interlochen Camp, an intensive summer arts program in Michigan. During his time there, he improved his sewing skills by learning new techniques. However, Myles’ great successes in fashion have not come without challenges.

“As a creative person, he’s really perfectionistic,” Mrs. Levy said. “When he struggles with something that’s imperfect or he can’t get it to work, he can get really frustrated and really hard on himself. That’s hard as a parent.”

Myles’s creative process can be lengthy, both because of his perfectionism and because he makes everything from scratch. His extensive process includes sketching out ideas for a specific look, then buying fabric to match that look. When he gets home from the fabric store, Myles makes sure his idea is still the same and makes any tweaks necessary based on the fabric. Next he drapes his mannequin in the fabric, followed by cutting muslin and converting that into paper pattern pieces. Finally, he cuts his pattern into fabric and starts sewing it together.

“I usually draw inspiration from current trends and pop culture. I try to put my spin on it,” Myles said. “Fashion is something for me to express my ideas about modern-day stuff. Even if you might not know it from my pieces, I can release my thoughts and anxiety into my sketches and into my designs.”

Myles’ recent professional photo shoot was for his collection entitled “The Denim Burn.”

Gallery • 3 Photos

Isobella Antelis

Outfits from Myles' recent collection "The Denim Burn."

He flew out to Los Angeles alone, where he met up with his sister, the cinematographer who took the photos. He later met the models and the rest of the production team to start shooting his pieces.

“We all agreed that it would be a really different experience if he went by himself, to let him have that really professional experience,” Mrs. Levy said. “It was his first trip traveling by himself. It was sort of like launching him into the world.”

Leading up to the shoot, Myles had to prepare all the shoes, jewelry, and other accessories so that the models’ looks were cohesive. On the day of, Myles dressed all the models and fitted them with the proper accessories. They shot at four different locations around Los Angeles.

“It was really hard. It was stressful. I altered in between shoots and between breaks, so everything would fit,” Myles said. “The most challenging part was if something was a little off, I had to not panic. I had to be professional about it because I was in front of a professional setting. I just had to make it work on the spot because we only had a limited amount of time in each location.”

Aside from small alterations here and there, the shoot ran smoothly and was successful.

“Everything honestly went perfect,” Myles said. “Nothing could have been any better.”

Myles did this shoot because he wanted to build up his portfolio so he can study fashion in college. In terms of the immediate future, however, Myles has already started planning for his next pieces.

“I think I’m going to start on a new collection, more eveningwear-based, and incorporate more sculptural elements into that. Then after that, maybe I’ll do another shoot again in LA when it’s done or somewhere different,” Myles said.

With the help and support of his family, friends, and mentors, Myles has been able to accomplish so much in just a few short years. “I am really proud of the hard work Myles has put into his fashion,” sophomore Sara Cutinho said. “I have known him for eight years and have seen him grow so much. I just cannot believe how talented he is.”

Mrs. Levy said, “He’s just got this talent that’s just, like, deep in him that we’ve nurtured, you know, and given him classes and mentors and a studio in the house, and he just goes to town. You know, that’s just amazing to watch. It’s so deep in him. I couldn’t sew a button on a shirt. There’s nothing about me that is fashion-forward or creative. He was kind of born with it.”

Myles eventually wants to have his own business and brand. “I think it’d be really cool to see my stuff walk down like a big runway, like New York Fashion Week or Paris Fashion Week,” Myles said. “But I’m excited for what the future holds.”

Gallery • 29 Photos

Isobella Antelis

Photos from Myles’ shoot in LA of his recent clothing collection.