Future Fashion Designers Academy

Our mission is to inspire and guide our Future Fashion Designers. Our Founder, Hollywood costume designer Shawnelle Cherry, has always had a desire to teach others to sew and share her passion for fashion.

Shawnelle learned how to sew at the age of 9 when she spent summers at her Aunt's home. This lifelong skill has led to 2 great careers in both fashion design and costume design. She reflects, "without my aunt's guidance I may have never discovered my artistic creativity in fashion." With sewing and fashion classes hard to come by, Shawnelle had to wait until college to expand her learning, adding, "I would of been in heaven if there was a place like this for kids when I was young."

Today, Shawnelle is a costume designer for feature films mostly based out of Los Angeles.

Future Fashion Designers came about when she was reading the book "One Month to Live" by Pastor Kerry Shook. "I discovered what would really feed my soul was to share my talents and teach kids (of all ages) my passion for the art."

Shawnelle is a graduate from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) in Los Angeles and from the UCLA extension program where she studied Costume Design for film. She worked in the Los Angeles garment industry early in her career and then opened her own design studio in Pacific Palisades, Ca where she designed beautiful bridal gowns and evening gowns for the Oscars, Emmys, Golden Globes and the Daytime Emmys.

In 1996 she went into a related career as a costume designer for feature films.

Now, Shawnelle has launched the very first Future Fashion Designers location in historic downtown Mooresville, NC and has constructed the curriculum for all ages and skill levels, with advancement through successive classes. Shawnelle's desire is to share her skills and lifetime of experience to help foster a new generation of fashion designers.