About
Scoops Color Lab is an innovative textile workshop that combines bold design with the organic, unpredictable beauty of ice tie-dye. Each piece is handcrafted using intentional color exploration and slow production methods, resulting in garments that are expressive, wearable, and entirely one-of-a-kind.
Scoops Color Lab is deeply committed to up-cycling high-quality vintage and reclaimed garments whenever possible, with the goal of keeping meaningful textiles out of landfills. In a world dominated by fast fashion and *fast everything* SCL intentionally slows the pace. Every hand-dyed item takes approximately four days from start to finish, allowing the process to unfold naturally and the color to fully develop.
Size inclusivity is a core value at Scoops Color Lab. The line currently offers garments up to size 5XL, with an ongoing commitment to sourcing additional sizes whenever possible. SCL is proud to create clothing for all bodies, without exception. SCL happily accepts custom orders and enjoys collaborating with individuals to bring their ideas to life. Whether you’re envisioning a specific color story, garment, or textile application, SCL is excited to work one-on-one to create something truly unique and meaningful. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions below.
The Artist
Jessica McIlhon is an artist originally from Iowa who has called Chicago home for over twenty years. She moved to Chicago to study at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she immersed herself in one medium after another, moving fluidly between painting, printmaking, graphic design, and glass.
Like many artists, Jessica struggled to find where she fit in the world. Creativity took a back seat as she fell into the rhythms of necessity, focused on staying afloat rather than making work. A profound illness marked a turning point in her life, from which she gratefully has fully recovered. That experience reshaped her perspective and made her need to create impossible to ignore, bringing her back to the studio with clarity, urgency, and intention.
Scoops Color Lab grew from that return, grounded in the one constant that has always connected her to everything: color. Bold, bright, soft, luminous, smoky, shadowy, brilliant. Jessica draws inspiration from the full palette of the world around her. These influences are poured into each collection, translating emotion, experience, and place into clothing that is both gritty and beautiful.
Through Scoops Color Lab, Jessica creates garments for every body. Pieces meant to be worn, lived in, and felt. Each collection is an exploration of color as language, fabric as canvas, and clothing as a powerful form of self-expression.
