Camden center will cater to those with a passion for fashion – Trumbull Times

CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) — Terina Hill knows how to turn fashion sense into financial stability, and she wants to share that knowledge in her adopted hometown.

“When I came to Camden, I saw that there was a lot of poverty, so I wanted to give people an opportunity to learn a skill and apply that immediately to generate income,” said the mother of two, who lives in downtown Camden.

And while there are myriad ways to learn new skills, some of them take a fair amount of time: learning a trade can take years; earning professional certifications can take months and cost thousands of dollars.

“I wanted to give people a way to take a class or a few classes, learn a skill and be able to earn income at the end of it,” she said.

The Fashion Design Center of South Jersey will offer that opportunity, she believes, giving children, teens and adults a place to learn sewing, design and other skills to create their own clothes, accessories and more.

The studio, in the front of a newly-renovated former union hall on Haddon Avenue, will host classes, workshops, summer camp sessions, guest speakers and artists, and events. It will serve as a maker space for designers and creators, offering both daily rates and monthly subscriptions.

And Camden residents who sign up in person will get a 50 percent discount for multi-session classes.

Vedra Chandler, the community events manager for Cooper’s Ferry Partnership, said she’s had discussions with Hill to include her students’ work in art installations for A New View, an initiative aimed at turning vacant lots into public gathering spaces beginning later this spring.

“She’s a treasure for Camden,” said Chandler. “She brings a bright light to the city with her teaching and sharing her talents, and she has a real enthusiasm for the future of Camden.”

Hill has a long resume, and it doesn’t only include fashion: Her line, Jypsea Leathergoods, up-cycles old leather, denim and other materials into belts, bags, jackets and even furniture. She’s hosted a podcast and writes about arts and culture for the Philadelphia Gay News. She’s taught all over the East Coast, including at Moore College of Design and Perkins Center for the Arts. And she’s organized makers’ events and fashion shows, including one in 2018 focusing on Camden-based designers.

The Essex County native graduated from New York City’s prestigious Fashion Institute of Technology, went on to a career as a jewelry and accessory designer, then later opened a boutique in North Brunswick.

Her plans for the Fashion Design Center include single-day and multi-day workshops; for the first, every participant will leave “knowing how to sew,” she said, with a pillow they made themselves to take home. Maker space memberships will go for $60 a month, or $15 for a day, for those who don’t have the space or equipment to make their visions a reality.

She wants to help match students with mentors, and bring give young designers a way to showcase their talents — including turning trash to fashion as part of A New View.

She’s planning a summer camp for ages 7 to 17, taking trips to fashion destinations like Manhattan and Brooklyn to take in fashion shows and hip boutiques.

She has a particular eye on helping aspiring designers, knowing that few traditional schools offer fashion design programs.

“So if a high school student wants to apply to a school like Moore, how can they build a portfolio?” she wondered. “This will help them fill that gap.”

Online: https://bit.ly/2QeRPRj

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