MILWAUKEE — A Milwaukee fashion designer is on the trip of a lifetime! Therese Marie Jones was selected to display her work at Milan and Paris Fashion weeks.
TMJ4's Carole Meekins spoke to her before her big trip.
Carole: When you think of Milwaukee, you don't exactly think of it as a hub for fashion design, and to go on to Paris fashion week, can you tell us how did you do that Therese?
Therese Marie Jones: I just pour my heart and soul and do a lot of shows here in the city. I've had the opportunity to go to New York and around the country and then when the Paris fashion week was coming up, I applied and they put me in the show and they were like, 'we would like to put you in Milan as well! And to do both!' And I'm like 'Yes! Sign me up. I'm there!'
Carole: You have clothes for all sizes, you're very inclusive. Why is that important?
Therese Marie: I'm a tailor and I've been here, my shop is called Therese Tailoring Boutique. So I've been working with women of all shapes and sizes for many years. When I started really launching my fashion brand I thought that was important too, and to show that also on the runway. So on the runway I have sizes zero, two, eighteen, twenty four!
Carole: I think a lot of times when we think of fashion, we think of size zeros or twos, and that you know it can't include everybody. But I think everybody wants to look good.
Therese Marie: I dress people for their birthdays for special events, red carpet, and everyone wants to feel comfortable and good, and that's really important to my brand to make everyone feel good, comfortable and look good.
Carole: I'm very impressed, I thank you for you know, being able to at least represent Milwaukee well, wow!
Therese Marie: I'm the only one from Milwaukee who will be in the show, and a black African American designer in the show, in both shows, so I'm really, really excited for that.
Carole: How did you get the the creativity or the confidence to understand that, you know what, I could do this, I can go out there?
Therese Marie: One of the first steps is overcoming fear and just facing fear and, once you get past that, the sky's the limit - there's no ceiling. I love it. I love creating, I love making people feel amazing. And so that helped me to face my fears and now I'm stepping out on a major stage and a big platform.
Carole: Therese, do you have any secret for those who might be a little fashion challenged on what they might do to up their look?
Therese Marie: Well, you can always find a good tailor. Find a good tailor to just help you kind of add something extra. You can do something different with the the fabric. You could do something different with the style, the cut. Do something extra like add some sequins, some fringe. Have some fun with it!
Carole: Therese Marie, thank you so much for being with us this morning and Positively Milwaukee.
