We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ayeshia Smith a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Ayeshia, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

I actually always knew from when I was a kid that I was going to use my middle name, Ayeshia, for my brand. I always felt the name looked unique and when I researched the meaning I discovered the name meant both love and alive. The meaning really resonated with me a lot because I make each garment with a lot of love and I want my clients to be able to feel both loved and alive when wearing my pieces.

Ayeshia, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Hello, my name is Ayeshia Smith and I’m a self taught fashion designer from Memphis, TN with over 20+ years of experience both designing and sewing. I am a mom of two beautiful kids which I do all of this for and they make my life even more exciting and unpredictable. They have shaped me into the woman I am today. I discovered my love for fashion around the age of 5 from watching all of the beautiful fashion in classic films. At 13, I knew that I wanted to become a fashion designer, my very first creation was a denim handbag that was repurposed from a pair of express jeans. I got the idea from an article out of Cosmopolitan Magazine. I remember bleaching the denim, sewing it by hand, and adding safety pins and studs to it. I wore it to school the following day, I got so many compliments on it and inquires to buy so I started selling them in high school. Today, I design and sew anything from handbags to wedding gowns, you name it and I can create it.

My brand, AyeshiA, is known for bold prints and vibrant colors made of the highest quality materials. I would like to call my work wearable art. My garments make my clients feel beautiful from the inside out and they get to show off their personality through my garments.

Of course, as you know the fashion industry is definitely a hard one to break into, but my dedication and passion for designing and my amazing clients is what has kept me going for as long as I have. I love to see the excitement and joy my clients have when putting on one of my custom garments. My clients trust my opinion when it comes to creating looks that accommodates both their body types and personalities. It is really fulfilling.

Being a fashion designer requires a lot of discipline and it is a lot of work that goes into it. It’s not always as glamorous as it’s portrayed when putting a collection together. Last year, I put together a collection for AyeshiA’s NYFW debut named, Memphis, which was named after my hometown. I had moved back due to being laid off from my jewelry designing job as a result of COVID19.

I think what sets me apart from other designers, is I don’t follow trends, I set them. I am big on staying true to myself and creating collections that are authentic and align with my mission. I sketch every look, pick out every material needed for each garment, and construct each pattern and garment myself, that’s rare, not too many people I know can draft patterns or sew garments from scratch. As I also stated before, I make each garment with a lot of love.

I am most proud of my Memphis Collection because that body of work was unlike any other collection I created in the past and it was extremely successful at both New York Fashion Week and back home in Memphis. All of the news and radio stations picked up on it, magazines and more. My city showed me so much love and I felt every ounce of it.

I would like for all of my potential and current clients, fans, and followers to know that I am working on my next collection that I will be releasing next year in 2023. I would also like everyone to know that I am now accepting prom gown orders and wedding gown orders for 2023. You can check out my work on AyeshiA.com, I also offer ready to wear garments and accessories from top vendors out of Los Angeles.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

The most effective way for me to grow my clientele is by word of mouth and social media. I have people from all across the world contact me through social media inquiring on how to order and it makes my heart full every single time. Also, whenever I go out I always wear AyeshiA because my pieces always strike up conversations and gives me the opportunity to introduce new potential customers to my brand.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

My senior year of high school I applied to FIDM in Los Angeles, a fashion school, and was accepted, but my parents didn’t want me to move across country so I ended up applying for a fashion school in Atlanta, Ga, I attended briefly and ended up transferring to the University of Memphis due to unforeseen circumstances. Shortly after, I got pregnant and became a single mom at 20 years old which was quite a challenge because I was trying to kickstart my fashion career, still finding myself, and trying to finish school. In the early years, I don’t remember having a lot of support on my dream of becoming a fashion designer, but despite the lack of support I pushed through and continued to tell myself that I am going to become a household name one day and have boutique stores across the world and I will. I remember working two jobs, studying, and taking care of my daughter. Hard is an understatement to describe how challenging it was trying to keep a roof over our heads, go to school, work, and not lose sight of my big dreams. I remember during those hard times though having random people prophesying to me about what was in store for me with my fashion career and that is what kept me going because it was a confirmation from God that He was going to make a way for me and it gave me hope. I always dreamed of showcasing my work at New York Fashion Week when I was a teenager and now I can say that I have showcased my biggest collection to date at New York Fashion Week 20 years later from when I first started.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.AyeshiA.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ayeshia.apparel/
• Facebook: https://Facebook.com/AyeshiA.Apparel
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ayeshiaapparel

Image Credits
Natrual Xpressions (personal photo and plaid outfits)