Friday, August 2

Youth learn to sew and design during the 2nd Annual Fashion Camp




Cross stitching, threading a needle, using a sewing machine and designing a dress out of newspaper were some of the skills that 20 budding designers learned during the 2nd annual Fashion Design Camp held July 15-19 in Pinkie E. Thrift Hall.

The free camp was hosted by the Nu Gamma Omega Chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.’s in conjunction with the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences Apparel Merchandising and Textiles program.

“We are working with Southern University’s College of Agricultural, Family and Consumer Sciences as a partnership to help support the community with our “The Arts Target,” which focuses on bringing more education about the Harlem Renaissance as well as the Black Arts Movement,” said Danielle Staten, a member of  Nu Gamma Omega Chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. “We have been reaching out to local girls and working with seamstresses in the community to give them a valuable skill that they can use,” she added.

Eleven-year-old Navira Robinson said the skills she learned during the camp will help her to reach one of her future goals. “During the fashion camp, I learned how to be independent while sewing and how to use a sewing machine. One of my future goals is to make clothes when I get older and this camp has given me the skills to accomplish this goal,” said Robinson.

“We want to continue to have outreach into the community with young girls and young boys to develop them and assist them in making a graceful approach to adulthood.

During the week-long camp, the youth learned to make combination quilts out of their own t-shirts and designed ball gowns out of newspapers. The participants displayed their gowns and presented their quilts to their parents and the other chapter members during a fashion show held on the last day of the camp.

Cox Communications presented Chromebook computers to five camp participants for their hold work and skills gained during the camp.

This is the second year that the Nu Gamma Omega Chapter has held the Fashion Camp in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences and the fourth year working on its “The Arts Target,” initiative.

“We want to continue to provide outreach into the community for young girls and boys to develop them and assist them in making a graceful approach to adulthood,” Jacqueline Nash Grant, President of the Nu Gamma Omega Chapter.

Drs. Jung-Im Seo and Samii Kennedy Benson, professors in the Apparel Merchandising and Textiles program facilitated the camp and were assisted by Carlton Knighten, a current AMTX student and Jordan Johnson, a recent AMTX graduate.

Photos from the Fashion Camp are available here


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