About the Artist

Madeleine Ibach is a lingerie and corset designer based in Chicago. She began her practice as a fiber artist specifically studying embroidery, appliqué, crochet and beading which is evident in her most recent work. She was also drawn to combining unconventional fabrics with collected found materials like bone and driftwood. She explored other unconventional mediums to embellish more conventional fabrics such as growing borax crystals on a constructed velvet evening gown. At this time she was making functional and non-functional works that hovered between applied and fine arts.

Madeleine transitioned into lingerie and corset design midway through her collegiate study after taking courses in the history of lingerie and classes specific to designing intimate apparel. Her roots influence her current process of finding materials or fabrics that catch her eye, which she then allows to dictate the possibility of each piece. Unconventional pairings of the highest quality silk with upholstery fabrics yield corsets and lingerie that convey both elegance and strength in the feminine form.

Madeleine is deeply interested in how the past often connects to the present and communicates

this idea in her work. By incorporating detailed hand work into her more intricate lingerie pieces,

she connects back to her own ancestors and teachers of the craft. She was taught at an early age

to hand sew by her German seamstress grandmother, a skill that flourished when her high school

mentor taught her embroidery and bead work. Both experiences inform her drive to discover the

correlation between her own ancestral roots and her current practice. Her corset and lingerie

designs often fuse the traditions of the past with the desires of the present to invite a new story to be told in each piece. Her designs vary across an expansive spectrum, fostering each and every

piece to be inimitable and inspirational.

Madeleine’s most recent collections focuses on bridal and evening-wear. The corsets and other works are more delicate and detailed, that echo her past works in lingerie and are enhanced with accents of traditional wedding materials such as pearls, silk and lace. These collections transcend decades of wedding and formal fashion, bringing elements from different eras into modern wearable pieces.