Lenese Calleea has always had a passion for fashion.
In addition to a flourishing design career, she shares her creativity through Black Girlz Designer Club, a nonprofit dedicated to providing mentorship, fun activities and other educational resources in all things fashion for young Black girls.
She knows firsthand the joy of acquiring these skills early. The Chicago native developed her first designs as a child, learning how to crochet from her grandmother, a woman who “made everything by hand,” Calleea recalls. Her abilities only strengthened over time, enough so that she made her own skirts – and even launched her first business in high school: Selling pillows for $15.
After graduating, Calleea pursued a bachelor’s degree in fashion design from Columbia College Chicago, then relocated to New York in 2014 to obtain a master’s degree in fashion management and merchandising from LIM College in Manhattan. Her career blossomed from there. “I’ve worked for Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Karl Lagerfield,” says Calleea, 35, who now lives in Brooklyn. “I worked with hosiery, ready-to-wear handbags … sweaters in product development and production.”
After years of working for designer retail brands, Calleea, who now teaches at the Fashion Institute of Technology, founded the product development program LC Apparel Consulting, and began running it full-time. And in 2019, she officially launched Black Girlz Designer Club.
This summer, the BGDC organization launched its first summer camp, where young Black girls learn both basic and complex sewing skills to create everything from bucket hats to entire custom-made outfits. The program culminates with a fashion show, during which the girls model their final projects in front of friends and family in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park.
Working beside Calleea at BGDC is co-founder Shaquanna Shontae, 34, who is also a workshop instructor at the camp. Shontae, too, understands the value of learning to design and create at a young age – she started sewing when she was 13, often venturing to the studio of her aunt, who worked as a seamstress. As CEO of Phènix Elite LLC, a fashion company, she explored entrepreneurship as well, before joining Calleea in launching BGDC.
The summer camp, which began July 8 and culminated in a July 27 fashion show, includes girls ages 8 to 14, and runs Mondays through Fridays. One session costs $350 a week; the entire three-week course costs $1,000.
And for that price, the girls come away with a practical education – as well as a new passion. Shontae says many of the girls come in not even knowing how to use a sewing machine, or how to properly sketch. “I tell people all the time, it’s not a hard technique to learn,” she adds. “If … kids can make a gown in less than three weeks, then it’s not a hard technique.”
Weaving in Life Lessons
A major goal of BGDC’s summer camp is to create more Black representation in fashion. According to research cited by McDonald’s Black & Positively Golden Change of Fashion program, Black designers only make up 7.3% of the U.S. fashion industry. Which is why the camp’s work extends beyond the summer – throughout the year, BGDC takes girls on field trips to places like the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and gives them full access to fashion studios.
The program also addresses the dearth of representation by guiding students on how to handle racial stereotyping – which Calleea says she experienced firsthand while working in the industry. “As soon as you speak up, it’s, ‘Oh, she’s aggressive, she’s angry.’ And it’s like, ‘No, I’m not,’” Calleea says. “I’m just telling you what needs to be done.”
The social and emotional learning continues from there, as the girls also explore how to manage their feelings amid obstacles (like a broken machine), and the importance of having patience. Some of the girls, those who already know each other from school, even form close friendships.
But the best part for many of the girls is the accomplishment of learning how to “sew a stitch while making projects at the same time,” says BGDC student Jael, who is 12.
Her fellow camper, Sloane, shares these sentiments. “I like how you get to make your own outfits and then you get to, like, showcase your outfits at the end of it,” the 10-year-old says. “We can model it, and then make it and add anything you want to it.” Sloane says she loves fashion because it’s a “way to express yourself.” For the fashion show, she designed a puffy blue high-low dress.
Parents feel the impact Calleea is making. She says one mother reached out to share how the camp has helped bring her introverted daughter out of her shell. “Her mom told me … ‘She had a blast. She had fun,’” Calleea says.
Launching the fashion camp hasn’t come without challenges. Calleea says she originally planned on starting the camp last year, after sharing their idea in a pitch competition. While she didn’t win, private funding group Unleashing Potential Foundation NYC provided a $15,000 grant – enough to cover two camp sessions this summer.
And, Calleea admits that she didn’t get the level enrollment she expected, as just five girls attended the camp’s first session. She hopes to rectify next summer by hiring a bus service to pick-up and drop-off students, so that parents don’t have to worry about transportation. Calleea also would like to expand in terms of both space and staff, and to perhaps partner with local schools.
Plus, it’s sometimes difficult to keep students engaged. But the joy of watching the girls learn and create has been worth it. “It’s been fun,” Calleea says. ““It’s definitely been a journey.”
