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On pins and needles

Little Rock fashion school filling a void in design instruction.

By Elizabeth Sharp

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Sew happy — Jamileh Kamran (left) runs a fashion school in Hillcrest. Alex Layrock (right) was her first student.

The rows of sewing machines and bolts of fabric in every color under the rainbow make the workshop at Jamileh Kamran Fashion School look like something out of Project Runway.

But it’s about as far away from the hustle and bustle of the Parson School of Design as you can be. Founded last September and tucked in a Hillcrest strip mall in Little Rock, the school is a place where many central Arkansans have gone to realize their fashion design dreams.

Don’t think for a minute, though, that the training offered here pales in comparison to what students might learn at schools in New York City. Bruce Lockett, a Little Rock resident who studied at the Fashion Institute of Technology in The Big Apple, said that in many ways the Jamileh Kamran Fashion School is better.

“What really frustrated me [when I attended FIT] is that I couldn’t afford to go full time,” the 43-year-old said. “[Kamran] has a good teacher-student ratio, she gives real good personal attention, she’s hands-on and she’s affordable.”

Local fashion designer Jamileh Kamran, who has made formal wear for everyone from her daughter to Hillary Rodham Clinton during her 30-year career, said she founded the school after realizing how much interest and talent there is in central Arkansas.

“If I’d known that there were that many interested people here, I would have done it years ago,” she said.

Several area colleges and universities offer fashion design programs. But Kamran’s school is the only one in central Arkansas focused solely on training people to enter the trade.

An intern helped nudge Kamran into starting the school. Alex Layrock, 22, had been a student of apparel studies at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. She said she learned a lot about design at the university but needed hands-on experience to strengthen her portfolio. She approached Kamran about an internship, learned all she could from the designer, and is now ready to continue her education at Savannah College of Art and Design.

Since opening the school, Kamran has taught courses in basic, intermediate and advanced design. She’s planning to add at least two more courses.

One student, Dolores Sims, 41, of Jacksonville, said she had an interest in designing and sewing her own costumes for ballroom dancing competitions — but knew little more than how to repair a seam. Sims said that just the first two courses have set her on her way to achieving her design goals.

“You get much more individualized attention,” she said. “[Kamran and her assistants] are good at helping you break things down and make it make sense, which is something I needed.”