A Cultural Archive. A Catalyst. A Moment.
The Chicago Creator Class is a curated collective of the city’s most compelling voices, builders, innovators, and vision-shapers redefining what it means to create from Chicago. Each member represents a different corner of culture, from visual arts and fashion to music, media, beauty, and experience design.
This inaugural volume honors the individuals who push the city forward through originality, discipline, and a mindset rooted in possibility.
The Creator Class isn’t just a list; it’s a lens into Chicago’s creative engine. A celebration of the stories, the skill, and the soul of the people who make the city move.
Together, they form a panoramic view of Chicago creativity today: bold, magnetic, and unmistakably authentic.
Welcome to the first volume.
MEET THE INAUGURAL CLASS
Mike Abrantie
FILMMAKER, CULTURAL PRODUCER, CREATIVE STRATEGIST
Mike Abrantie’s creative world operates in layers of rhythm and narrative. Film, music, photography, and cultural production intersect fluidly in his practice. Raised on Chicago’s South Side with Ghanaian heritage grounding his perspective, he learned early that storytelling carries responsibility.
As co-founder of Out The Box Creative Group, he has shaped award-winning projects that reflect cultural nuance and emotional depth. His visuals carry movement; his sound carries intention. There is a cohesion to his multidisciplinary work, a sense that each medium speaks to the other.
Within the Creator Class, Mike represents range and perspective. He brings global influence rooted in local truth, expanding what Chicago storytelling can look and feel like.
Abena Boamah-Acheampong
SKINCARE INNOVATOR
Abena Boamah-Acheampong leads Hanahana Beauty with equal parts intention and innovation. What began as a kitchen experiment has grown into a clean skincare brand stocked in national retailers like Ulta and built on ethical production in Ghana. Abena’s background in teaching and therapy informs her approach: she sees beauty as a holistic experience that must empower both the consumer and the community behind the product.
Through transparent sourcing, above-fair wages, and culturally grounded storytelling, she has created a model that centers care at every step. Abena believes that when purpose drives the process, beauty becomes far more than a routine, it becomes impact.
Dometi Pongo
TELEVISION PERSONALITY, PRODUCER, HOST
Dometi Pongo has built a career anchored in truth-telling and cultural clarity. A journalist, producer, and host best known for MTV’s True Life Crime, he approaches media as a platform for amplification rather than spectacle.
His work spans red carpets, global stages, and poignant community reporting, always rooted in a commitment to representation. Whether covering breaking stories or guiding complex conversations, Dometi brings rigor, empathy, and context to every narrative. He views storytelling as a responsibility—one that has the power to shift perspectives and open doors. His voice is not just recognizable; it’s trusted.
Duimoh Umolu
TASTEMAKER, SPIRIT CONNOISSEUR
Uduimoh Umolu builds with long-term vision. As founder of Jon Basíl Tequila, he has cultivated a premium spirits brand that blends heritage, strategy, and community awareness. Since its launch in 2018, the brand’s growth has earned national recognition, including Forbes 30 Under 30 distinction, yet his focus remains grounded in intention.
His approach to entrepreneurship reflects a deep understanding of culture as both inspiration and responsibility. Every activation, every partnership, every detail reflects thoughtful construction. Celebration, in his world, carries meaning.
Uduimoh’s contribution to the Creator Class reflects legacy-building. He represents the intersection of creativity and commerce, showing how cultural integrity can guide scalable vision.
Tyler Clark
3D ARTIST
Tyler Clark approaches art with the patience of someone who understands that meaning takes time. Her studio holds layers — fabric, texture, synthetic hair, pigment — materials assembled with care and precision.
Through Inspire By Tyler, she has built a body of mixed-media portraits that honor Black womanhood with depth and reverence. Her works have appeared in cultural touchstones like Black-ish and The Chi, yet her focus remains intimate: creating recognition for the women reflected in her compositions. Each piece feels deliberate, tactile, and emotionally grounded.
Within the Creator Class, Tyler represents craft. She reminds us that storytelling can be stitched, layered, and constructed with intention, and that identity deserves to be handled with care.
Imani Kutti
FASHION DESIGNER
mani Kutti is a designer and cultural storyteller whose work through Ivory Kutts brings West African heritage into modern fashion with clarity and pride. Drawing from her Ivorian and Nigerian roots, she creates garments that honor tradition while embracing contemporary expression, pieces that carry history, identity, and strength in every stitch. Imani’s design philosophy is rooted in visibility: she builds clothing that allows women to feel powerful, centered, and connected to something larger than trend.
Her creative process is guided by lineage and intention, proving that fashion can be both beautifully crafted and deeply meaningful. For Imani, style is a celebration of where you come from and who you choose to become.
Dennis Larance
VISUAL ARTIST
Dennis Larance builds worlds through the lens. His photography and creative direction draw inspiration from sci-fi, anime, comic art, and high-fashion cinematics, resulting in imagery that feels expansive, atmospheric, and alive.
Dennis works with major brands including Adobe, Nike, Red Bull, Xbox, and RCA, bringing a distinctive “science-fantasy” aesthetic to campaigns and editorial projects. Rather than capturing a moment, he constructs a universe—one defined by dramatic lighting, layered symbolism, and emotional depth. Dennis approaches visual storytelling as a sensory experience, inviting viewers to step inside the frame. His work doesn’t just depict imagination; it activates it.
D’Nia Defrance
MODEL, ARTIST
D’Nia Defrance carries a reflective quality that informs every aspect of her work. Modeling introduced her to the mechanics of image-making; visual art allowed her to deepen that conversation. She moves through both spaces with a steady awareness of growth, allowing her creative identity to evolve naturally.
Her mixed-media explorations and editorial presence share a common thread: an embrace of complexity. There is nuance in how she presents beauty — never flattened, always dimensional. Her work feels like an unfolding, shaped by experience and personal understanding.
D’Nia’s place in the Creator Class is rooted in evolution. She embodies the ongoing process of becoming, demonstrating that creativity expands when self-awareness guides the work.
Davo Alexander
WARDROBE STYLIST, CONTENT CREATOR
Davo Alexander reshapes garments the way sculptors reshape clay—intuitively, boldly, and with an eye for reinvention. As a stylist and visual artist, he transforms vintage denim, archival pieces, and unexpected materials into looks that merge editorial creativity with streetwise authenticity.
His growing digital presence showcases a body of work that elevates self-expression as its own art form. Through his collective, Davo collaborates with models, musicians, and emerging tastemakers, using style as a medium to tell their stories. He believes fashion is a reclamation tool, allowing people to step into the strongest version of themselves through what they choose to wear.
Sharaun B.
MODEL, ACTRESS
There is a composure about Sharaun B that feels earned rather than performed. Long before the international runways and the stage of the 67th Annual Grammy Awards, she was developing something quieter and more enduring — a disciplined sense of self. Raised on Chicago’s South Side, she learned early that presence is not volume, but alignment.
Her time on America’s Next Top Model sharpened her understanding of visibility. Modeling became both profession and metaphor — a space where image meets identity. Through The Model Tribe, she extended that philosophy into mentorship, creating pathways for others to cultivate confidence from within. Her work bridges fashion and wellness seamlessly, grounded in the belief that transformation begins internally.
Sharaun’s contribution to the Creator Class lies in her embodiment of self-mastery. She represents the power of showing up fully formed, fully aware, and fully intentional in every room.
Chanelle Tru
Chanelle Tru’s artistry unfolds through movement and voice. As a singer, rapper, dancer, and actress, she commands attention with an energy that feels lived-in rather than manufactured. Her performances — including appearances at Lollapalooza and alongside nationally recognized artists — reveal an artist committed to growth and authenticity.
There is emotional clarity in her work. Each stage becomes an extension of her internal process, translating experience into sound and motion. She treats performance as connection, allowing audiences to witness her evolution in real time.
Within the Creator Class, Chanelle represents momentum. She carries the city’s creative pulse forward through expression that is fearless, disciplined, and deeply felt.
RECORDING ARTIST
Kevin White
Kevin White is a cultural curator and experience architect redefining what connection looks like in Chicago’s social landscape. As the visionary behind The Red Room R&B Party, he has created a signature gathering rooted in warmth, intimacy, and presence — a space where music and community meet without pretense.
His transition from IT professional to nightlife storyteller reflects a deep intuition for how people want to feel, gather, and belong. Kevin treats every event as a narrative, crafting environments that invite genuine interaction and memorable moments. His work champions the idea that when people feel seen, the room transforms — and so does the city around it.
CULTURAL CONNECTOR, CONTENT CREATOR
George Stanton
MAGICIAN, CONTENT CREATOR
George Stanton crafts magic that lives beyond the moment. His performances blend illusion, mentalism, and immersive storytelling to create experiences that feel deeply personal, whether for intimate audiences or major clients such as Amazon, Red Bull, and Warner Brothers.
What began as childhood curiosity evolved into a full-time commitment after a sports injury shifted the direction of his life. George approaches magic as a form of connection: a chance to suspend disbelief and remind people that wonder still belongs to them. His work is designed to blur the boundary between reality and imagination, leaving audiences with a sense of possibility they didn’t expect.
Narratent Studios
Narratent Studios served as the creative backbone of The Chicago Creator Class, providing the space, vision, and production excellence needed to bring this campaign to life. More than a studio, Narratent operates as a creative ecosystem, a place built for storytellers, artists, and innovators to produce meaningful work at the highest level.
Every portrait, interview, and piece of content from this campaign was shaped inside this space: conceived, crafted, and refined by a team committed to honoring Chicago’s creative talent with intention and precision.
Narratent Studios’ involvement represents more than production support; it symbolizes a cultural investment. By creating a home where ideas become visuals and creatives feel seen, the studio reinforces its mission of elevating Chicago’s narrative.
Creator Class Contributors
Dahyembi Joi Neal
Photographer
Allen C. Shelton
Creative Director
Karae Carthans
Digital Coordinator