“It’s going to be big,” Jasmine Brown, owner and creator of Designs by J. Stocking said with the excitement peering through her voice about the upcoming show she will be presenting.
Anomaly: The Runway Fashion Experience and Mixer will be taking place at 6 p.m. on Saturday, January 18 at the Last Hotel (1501 Washington).
“We decided that we didn’t want to just have a show,” Brown said. “A lot of times people will go to a fashion show and say, ‘Okay, that was cool’ and that’s pretty much the end of it. We want to create an experience for the guests.”
That experience includes 17 models serving up to 60 looks.
“We have a few day looks for everyday wear,” Brown said. “We have a few looks that could be work or church appropriate. We will be going from day to night.”
And guests will have the opportunity to make purchases straight from the runway.
“I know that’s not available. In past shows that I’ve done, I really didn’t make what I’ve done available,” Brown said. “We are trying to think smart and get the brand out to the people – and bring them something they like and enjoy. This is how I want to make my living and so I started to think broader and bigger.”
Brown’s journey as a fashion designer began when she was 12 years old and a woman from her church blessed her family with a sewing machine. She taught herself to sew and immediately took to stitching her own creations.
“I made my first dress out of old curtains,” Brown said.
Her latest design would be courtesy of whatever fabric her mother would let her cut up.
She mastered her craft through home economic classes in middle and high school.
She went on to study textile and apparel management and product development University of Missouri-Columbia.
Designs by J. Stocking has been up and running online since 2014.
“My brand is for a woman of today who enjoys having a social life – she likes to travel and go to events,” Brown said. “She likes to look good. She likes to feel good. She’s classy and sophisticated. She likes to make a statement.”
Brown enjoys creating event wear most of all when it comes to her designs.
“When you are going to a gala, it’s going to be a little more extravagant and it’s one of those things to where you want to stand out.”
Her favorite of what she will be showing on the runway this Saturday is a look she calls a “modern vintage” collection.
“I love the polka dots and the furs of it,” Brown said.
She’s confident that the audience will catch her intention to help spotlight what his happening here on the style scene by way of her brand.
“I want people to feel St. Louis is bringing fashion to the forefront and I want them to feel like they are in one of those major fashion cities seeing a show when they come.”
Anomaly: The Runway Fashion Experience and Mixer takes place at 6 p.m. on Saturday, January 18 at 6 p.m. The Last Hotel located at 1501 Washington Avenue. For more information, visit https://www.designsbyjstocking.com/
