For career day of spirit week in the 2nd grade, with a stick and ribbon in hand and wearing the smartest jacket I owned, I showed up to school declaring that I was going to be a fashion designer. Further down the line I found myself being a member of an intensive theatre conservatory, as a triple threat, with my favorite part of every production being our dress rehearsals. At twelve I performed with Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s summer production of Macbeth, as “Dying Child #2,” and at thirteen I managed to weasel my way into their costume shop hand-sewing, tearing apart old costumes, and working for a wage of free.99/hour.

At fourteen I spent a year at Idyllwild Arts Academy studying visual art and fashion design, and with an early graduation at sixteen I left school to pursue my further education in fashion construction with a furrier and master tailor called “Mister Frank,” of Colorado Leathers & Furs. With him I began to study pattern cutting and drafting the ultra old-school way, using tools more akin to the likes of architecture students.

At nineteen, I shifted my focus into suiting and began my work with Cherry Creek Tailors under Burhan Yourmez, wherein I learned every amount of technical nuance about the trade. My tenure with them ended upon my move to the east coast, where I studied under Bianca DePietro (a Central Saint-Martens alum) of Toile in Philadelphia. With her I learned the intricacies of dress-making through the means of bridal, which became my foray into the world of advanced couture techniques.

Now at twenty-four in Miami, after more than ten years of study, I am proud to bring my dedication and love of this art to the city.

From my hands to yours,

—Emma Steel