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Edgar X. Aguilera

Assistant Professor

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Bio

Edgar Aguilera (he/him) is a designer and educator whose practice merges artisanal menswear with experimental construction, historical silhouettes, and contemporary visual culture. Through his label EDGAR*AGLRA, he explores fashion as a space for personal mythology—crafting one-of-one garments that embodied the aesthetics of contemporary individualism. His work has appeared in global campaigns, including Spotify’s feature on Bad Bunny in Times Square, and on the September issue cover of 192 Magazine, worn by Ely Guerra.

Aguilera’s design language has spanned custom tailoring, sculptural pattern making, digital fashion, and narrative-driven video and performance. His garments were selected for Cotton Incorporated’s Styling Cotton: Ready to Wear Talent initiative, archived in their international CottonWorks 3D digital collection.

Before relocating to Chicago, he led menswear product development at Mexico’s largest fashion retailer, shaping visual and design across over 240 stores. He also taught across undergraduate and graduate programs at CENTRO University, where he developed courses at the intersection of creativity, entrepreneurship, and material experimentation—fostering new approaches to fashion education.

He holds a Master of Professional Studies in Global Fashion Management and a Bachelor in Fashion and Textile Design from CENTRO University in Mexico City.

Exhibitions

The Sad Kids of the Renaissance: Triumphs & Laments, 2023; The Boy Pharaoh, 2021; Apotheosis, 2020; Le Roi Soleil, 2019 (National Art Museum Mexico City exhibition); Eschatology, 2015

Courses

Title	Department	Catalog	Term
Fashion Design I	Fashion Design	2002 (001)	Fall 2025
Description Fashion Design I builds the skills and talents required to achieve creative fashion. This class teaches the design fundamentals of the integrated core fashion design curriculum. Students will engage multiple skills to create individual, visionary, unconventional garments, and later, collections. Through a series of projects, students explore form, silhouette, volume, and research in design to arrive at a personal point-of-view in fashion. This course will specifically ask students to work conceptually and to develop research methodologies in their design work. Based on this inquiry, students generate sketches and surface treatments to refine their unique silhouettes and material manipulations. No prerequisite.		Class Number 1430 Credits 3
Fashion Construction and Design V	Fashion Design	4001 (001)	Fall 2025
Description Advanced Fashion Studio 1 This two-day (6 credit hour) course aims to help students achieve a high level of professionalism through the design and development of a body of work through collections that emphasize and generate a personal style and a fashion direction. Students will engage conceptual design and creative pattern cutting to develop their collection through refined and distinct garments, and their manufacture. Workshops in advanced techniques augment and expand the fashion vocabulary and potential for their offerings. Students communicate collection concepts utilizing advanced design and research methodologies to back up their creative visions. Students will develop prototypes for their thesis collection, and complete a minimum of five directional garments in the fall. Pre-req FASH 3900.		Class Number 1406 Credits 6

Portfolio

Bad Bunny posing with an embellished hat and nails in front of a red, black, orange, and blue backdrop.

Edgar Aguilera, Bad Bunny for Spotify, 2020

A person models a pink, handwoven sweater with intricate details and pink ribbons.

Edgar Aguilera, The Sad Kids of the Renaissance, 2023, handwoven sweater, photo by Rene Baptista.

An adult person wearing bright blue designs by Edgar Aguilera laying in the grass surrounded by greenery.

Edgar Aguilera, The Sad Kids of the Renaissance, 2023, wool jacket with overblown armor sleeves, pants with multicolored strips of taffeta and matching codpiece with embroidered logo, wool beret inspired by the uniforms of the Swiss guard, photo by Rene Baptista.

An adult person wearing bright orange designs by Edgar Aguilera standing and surrounded by greenery.

Edgar Aguilera, The Sad Kids of the Renaissance, 2023, handwoven sweater, photo by Rene Baptista.

Edgar Aguilera, The Sad Kids of the Renaissance, 2023, wool jacket with overblown armor sleeves, extra long vest with panels and hand painted belt, water repellent pants and wool beret inspired by the uniforms of the Swiss guard, photo by Rene Baptista.

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