Episode 43: Charla Hobson

France’s Coco Chanel is famous for creating the Little Black Dress and the Skirt Suit. Detroit’s Tracy Reese is one of the most important African American designers of our time having dressed A list actors and at least one first lady. Meiling is widely considered the mother of modern fashion in Trinidad and Tobago. Charla Hobson is just that for the island of Anguilla.

Growing up she remembers matching and picking her outfits as soon as she could express herself. Although her primary school wore a uniform Charla always found the urge to alter it in whatever way she could.

One year, Charla’s mother encouraged her to attend a sewing class during school vacation. She was hesitant. By the end of the class however she had learned much and was now excited about what she could create. Although she had been taught the basics of sewing by one of her grandmother’s the class opened up new possibilities and was perhaps the catalyst for her creative genius.

By the time Charla was a teenager, influences from some of the island’s most fashionable women, album art from pop artists and designers such as Zac Posen were bursting in her mind and erupted in the form of her first clothing line, Panache Couture.

On an island with virtually no fashion industry, Charla defied the odds. She began to design original pieces and took it a step further by producing and promoting her own fashion shows and recruiting and training a team of over 30 models. What never existed before, came into fruition because of Charla’s vision and execution. With no existing industry to pull from, Charla built the foundation for the designers and models on the island today.

With several local shows, regional exhibitions and a degree from the renowned Savannah College of Art and Design, Charla continues to evolve and teach the creative entrepreneurs of the future.

But the show is not over yet. This is the story…thus far… of Charla Hobson.