Leslie Swanson is a native Chicago designer and pattern maker.

She earned a BFA in Fashion Design and Production from The Illinois Institute of Art at Chicago (Ray Vogue). In 2004, Leslie opened her own upscale women's boutique where she both ran the business and designed custom clothing for retail clients.

Leslie has also designed costumes for theater, multimedia art shows, and curated fashion shows for charity. She spent five years in New York working in the fashion industry, television, consulting for designers, helping build clothing lines and developing production strategies while designing her own collections.