Teaching our Youth through UNITY: Q&A with Keiona Cook
Here at Fashion Week Minnesota (FWMN) we love to highlight and showcase our amazing local designers, boutiques, and creative community! To kick off our first blog post for FWMN 2022, we got the chance to have a Q&A interview with Keiona Cook, Executive Director and Lead Educator at Lovely’s Sewing and Arts Collective (LSAC).
Lovely’s Sewing and Arts Collective was established in June of 2009 through Cook’s vision to bring back an essential skill – sewing – and other essential life tools that she wished she had been taught as a child. As stated in their mission statement,”
At LSAC we teach youth sewing, yoga, dance, public speaking, entrepreneurship, poetry and so many other life skills. We use these skills as tools to teach patience, focus, leadership and accountability of actions at home school and everywhere else. The kids create [...] and we teach them”
LSAC helps build community with our Twin Cities youth one stitch at a time. Keiona is passionate about youth work and emphasizes the power of unity within our community. Read on to learn more about Keiona and her background, LSAC at large, and what’s on the horizon for the ambitious creative that she is!
Q1: When did you first get interested in Fashion?
A: I’ve been in love with fashion and designing all my life. I’ve been designing since the age of six. My mom taught me to draw and hand sew. Because of her fashion styles I’m inspired everyday. [Below] is a picture of my mom modeling one of my garments for a show I produced for the Black Women’s Wealth Alliance at the Guthrie Theater. She will be modeling for me in the Spring 2022 fashion show.
Q2: Tell us about your education, schooling, and background!
A: I learned how to sew on the sewing machine from my mom’s godmother, the late Thelma Buckner, at her quilt shop located in St. Paul called Piece by Piece Quilt shop. I then went off to college in Savannah, Georgia where I obtained my B.F.A. in Fashion Design. I was born and raised on the Southside of Chicago. My mom moved me and my six siblings to North Minneapolis in 1996.
I also became a teen mom in June of 1996. My son has been my drive to be a better version of myself everyday (pictured below). I attribute a lot of my successes to him as well, because my eyes were opened to dream bigger so that he would strive to do the same.
Q3: How would you describe Lovely’s Sewing for those who are not familiar?
A: Lovely’s Sewing & Arts Collective is a nonprofit school for youth aged 4-16. At LSAC, we teach youth the art of sewing which is the foundation of LSAC. We also teach yoga and financial literacy. We use these skills as tools to teach patience, focus, leadership, and accountability. The goal is to help the kids understand the inner leadership in themselves as they empower the communities around them through unity. Through financial literacy, the kids learn to save money, open a savings account, the art of giving and the importance of volunteering.
Q4: What is your hope with the work you do at LSAC?
A: Our future goals align with the present. We will connect as many youth as possible through sewing, yoga and financial literacy. We will also be expanding programming to offer FashionTech, more sewing events for youth and adults and more online sewing workshops. We also want to provide jobs to other Fashion Designers, fresh out of college, struggling to find a career home in Fashion, through our Mobile Sewing shuttle buses.
Q5: You’re also an amazing fashion designer and event planner. Tell us a bit about that!
A: I wear a lot of hats, but the crown of everything is Fashion Design. Designing couture garments for women and little girls is what I love doing, because it’s an opportunity every time to make them feel beautiful from the inside out. As women, we are always busy taking care of the hearts around us that sometimes we forget about self-care and this is where
Qe’Bella couture comes in (below). I create everything from a simple pair of jeans to over the top wedding dresses building relationships that last a lifetime through impact, empowerment and encouragement. Through fashion, I pour love into each woman and little girl.
Qe’Bella Couture look
As an event planner, I focus on intimate experiences of no more than 30 people. Sometimes we do larger events of 250 to 350 people, but we love catering to the high end intimate moments. That special 30th, 40th, 50th, or even 80th birthday party. The planned holiday party with your closest friends. The company retreat. These are the events where I thrive by making everyone feel important and appreciated.
Q7: So, what’s next for Keiona Cook?
A: Self-care is number one. In order to care for so many hearts I have to make sure I’m doing personal self-care. I realized I wasn’t doing self-care for myself and it was draining me – mentally, emotionally and physically.
I’ve talked about self-care for women and little girls, and my goal is to continue to empower as many women and little girls as I can in this lifetime. I understand the power of empowering women to empower communities through unity. The more we take care of women and little girls the better the world will be. So, what’s next? Expansion of Lovely’s Sewing & Arts Collective, more ready to wear garments for sale on the Qe’Bella Couture website, Sisterhood dates for women, and sewing retreats for little girls.
I know you’re wondering what are Sisterhood dates? I make a healthy salad with or without protein for women in our communities that need someone (me) to just pour light into them. Making them sit down and just breathe, vent, and take a break from the rest of the world over lunch.
Q8: How can the fashion community support your work?
A: You can support LSAC by becom[ing] a monthly sustainable donor through GiveMN. You can support an upcoming Adult Sip & Sew event hosted by Qe’Bella Couture, because 50% of the proceeds go into scholarships for youth that want to learn the art of sewing through LSAC. This also allows us to purchase gift cards for moms and dads to go do some self-care at a spa. We also need more teachers and volunteers to come teach to expand programming!
At larger companies, executive directors have access to discretionary funds. We encourage you to use your power to support the expansion work of LSAC as we light the lives and minds of our youth, grow with us through unity!
Encourage your friends that have kids to sign their kids (aged 4-16) up for the weekend group sewing classes, or have a mobile sewing party where we bring the fun to you all for up to six people as you make a MN Silhouette Pillow (pictured right)!
Support us through your social networks. We would love to encourage you all to share your platforms and ways for LSAC and Qe’Bella Couture to volunteer and in the Fashion communities through unity!
To connect further with Lovely Sewing & Art Collective and Qe’Bella Couture, check out their socials!
Lovely Sewing & Art Collective Qe’Bella Couture