Since beginning her fashion empire in 1986, Chicago-based fashion designer Barbara Bates has become a dynamic leader in the fashion industry. Bates Designs has dressed some of the world’s most fabulous fashionistas, entertainers, celebrity clients, community leaders and influential figures, including Michael Jordan, Oprah Winfrey, Steve Harvey, Whitney Houston – just to name a few.


A self-taught fashion designer, Bates was born and raised in Chicago. She went through Chicago’s public school system and graduated from Marshall High School in 1972. She worked a variety of jobs after graduation, frequently wearing her very own designs. In 1984, she began selling her clothes during her lunch breaks while working as a secretary for the First National Bank of Chicago.

Two years later, an investment of $5,000 from a generous client allowed Bates to ditch her daytime gig, and she went into the fashion business full time. Initially, she began with a small staff, consisting of a husband-and-wife sewing team, who churned out her designs just as quickly as she could dream them. In 1988, she opened a 700-square foot showroom. These days, Bates oversees a diverse staff in a sprawling design studio in Chicago’s South Loop.