All budding fashion designers have to get their start somewhere, and a group of Tulsa-area youngsters came to the Brady Arts District to take their first steps toward the sewing machine.
Threads Fashion Camp for Kids was created by two Brady District business owners, Nikki Warren and Kim Grayson of The MOCHA Butterfly Boutique, 216 N. Main St.
The weeklong camp at Fly Loft, 117 N. Boston Ave., gave participants from ages 5 to 18 an introduction to fashion.
“Threads is designed to give a snapshot of what the process of fashion design entails,” Warren said in a previous interview. “We hear from our customers quite often that their kids are interested in fashion, and after so many times we heard that, it got our wheels turning. So we created Threads.”
A week isn’t enough time to learn how to sew, she said, but the camp could offer an overview of the basics. Topics at Threads included fashion vocabulary, aesthetic principles of design and style concepts.
But to get the fashion camp warmed up, Warren said, each of the kids got to make something.
“I opened the class up by allowing them to get creative immediately,” she said. “We gave them a canvas bag and materials, and they were able to embellish the bags in their own way.”
After the juices of creativity were flowing, the next step was building a foundation for the would-be designers to build upon. Participants learned some of the terminology of the fashion industry, Warren said, such as the idea that a “statement piece” is something the wearer wants to stand out from the rest of her outfit.
The kids also got a lesson in fashion’s many flavors.
“There’s so many different styles out there: classic, gothic, punk, preppy, street, trendy,” Warren said. “I gave them an opportunity to look through some magazines, to show them a definition with a visual, and where these people go to buy these particular clothes, and what kind of color schemes go with these styles.”
The lesson came with a personal application when the junior fashionistas partnered up to talk about their own styles, describing what they look for in their clothing while referencing the concepts Warren discussed. The activity that followed is one that may sound familiar to anyone who played with paper dolls.
“I had them go through the magazines again and find pieces of clothing and create their own outfits for certain places,” Warren said.
The budding designers got to borrow from the experts while they assembled ensembles as if the magazine cutouts were items in an actual closet. They created looks “from head to toe — outfit, accessory and shoes, all of that stuff,” Warren said.
The final days of Threads Fashion Camp offered a “make it work” challenge for the participants inspired by the popular reality competition show for designers “Project Runway.”
The challenge started with a Barbie doll, which was to be outfitted with intention.
“I asked them what their inspiration was,” Warren said. “Who is this person wearing this outfit, where are they going, what are they doing, how old are they?”
The next step during the two-day final project was “to make the Barbie doll into a big doll,” Grayson said of the exercise that turned the kids into the models for their own work.
They may have lacked the equipment and know-how to sew complex garments, but the campers were able to construct their own looks using craft paper, tablecloth, strings, ribbons and printed duct tape.
During the design process, Warren stressed the importance of creativity and discouraged copying.
“Fashion is not looking like other people,” she said. “It’s expression, and being firm in that expression.”
After completing the garments, the kids modeled their looks while strutting the runway before a panel of three judges. They were asked to share details on their inspiration, the materials they chose and overall composition of the garments.
Kristina Bereal, 13, and Lilly Kneafsey, 9, were the challenge winners and earned as their prize free admission to the next weeklong camp hosted by Warren and Grayson.
The next session of Threads Fashion Camp for kids ages 5 and up is scheduled for Aug. 4-8, at EduRec Tulsa Community Center, 5424 N. Madison Ave. The cost is $75, which covers a camp T-shirt, canvas bag and materials.
The organizers hope to plan a Threads Fashion Camp for Adults in the fall. For more information, contact Grayson or Warren at 918-794-0795 or stop by The MOCHA Butterfly Boutique.
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