Meet the 14-year-old fashion designer from North Potomac

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Wearing one of her own designs, Chloe Ayissi-Etoh is surrounded by clothes she created in her home studio. Photo by Michael Ventura

A year agoChloe Ayissi-Etoh didn’t know how to sew. But this spring, in a packed school auditorium of more than 900 people, the teenager was drenched in thunderous applause as a bona fide fashion designer.

Wearing a red gown she had finished perfecting just minutes earlier, Chloe followed the models who had taken the stage at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda with nine looks from her first collection, under her brand name chlolanà, a portmanteau of her name. pile and middle name. name Alan.

For Chloe, an eighth grader at the time, the fashion show was a huge accomplishment. What made it even more impressive was that she had only four weeks to design, sew, and fit the dresses, pants, shirts, and corsets that she had outlined for various body types. The show was held during a retreat for the Minority Scholars Program, a student-led group in Montgomery County Public Schools that is working to close the achievement gap.

“I didn’t even have time to sleep; I slept two to four hours a night,” says Chloe, 14, who lives in North Potomac and attended Robert Frost High School in Rockville. “It was very hectic, but if I am determined to do something, I will do it regardless of what anyone else says and no matter how crazy it sounds.”

The fashion show was so well received that it got a repeat performance two months later as part of Robert Frost’s 50th anniversary celebration. Robert Frost’s science teacher Sunila Varghese, who co-sponsors the school’s chapter of the Minority Scholars Program and has known Chloe for two years, notes that the teen managed two assistants and two makeup artists during the show, and also choreographed walks for the models. all classmates.

“A gasp could be heard as the [audience] I heard he was 14 years old. My heart was full,” says Varghese. “She’s a very bright and talented girl, and whatever she does, she’s a rock star.”

Chloe works on her designs in a basement storage room that she is turning into her sewing studio. Photo by Michael Ventura

Chloe, a rising ninth-grader at Wootton High School in Rockville, describes her aesthetic as mostly monochrome with a splash of color—”a mix of streetwear and chic.” She draws inspiration from fashion labels such as London designer House of CB, known for her figure-hugging pieces.

Chloe became interested in fashion in June 2021 after shopping at thrift stores and watching TikTok videos about recycling clothes. She soon began taking sewing lessons from an aunt. Countless hours on YouTube followed as she immersed herself in sewing and fashion terminology.

Once school started that fall, Chloe says, she no longer wanted to wear sweatshirts and hoodies to class. She quickly became known for her own designs, and even won “Best Dressed” from her fellow eighth graders in a student poll. “For some reason, I just became a fashionista,” she says. “I would go into my closet, look at some clothes, put together an outfit and it would be amazing.”

Just because she no longer wears sweatshirts and hoodies in the hallways doesn’t mean Chloe never dresses casual. But even then, she says, she puts a spin on her appearance. “Honestly, it depends on my mood,” she says. “If I’m feeling extra that day, I’ll create a really extra outfit for that day at school, maybe spice things up with some high-waisted flared pants and [a] turtleneck sweater with a corset under the bust.”

Describing the process of deconstructing a garment as “beautiful,” earlier this year Chloe pulled a zipper and ripped the seams off a pair of pink stretch shorts she bought for $2 at a thrift store. she then added interface and created an underbust corset that she sometimes wears to school over a white dress shirt. “My mom doesn’t like that she has such a big obsession with corsets,” she admits.

Her mother, Katrina, 45, says she puts up with constant fashion advice from Chloe, her only daughter among four children. “She asks me if she can fix me up and dress me up, but I say, ‘No, she came out of my closet. I’m fine,’” says Katrina. “But maybe this summer she’ll ask him to make me a shirt.”

Chloe plans to become a designer with her own line of mid-to-high-end ready-to-wear. She says she finds inspiration everywhere and remembers a time when she devised a colour-block streetwear look from a ladder leaning against a wall in French class. She is converting a storage room in the basement of her house into a sewing studio with light pink walls, white tables, lots of green plants and a sign with her brand.

Meanwhile, Katrina is trying to come to terms with the fact that the daughter she has seen go from one hobby to another, while Chloe still loves to bake and cook, now seems committed to a future in fashion. “The Lord must work in mysterious ways,” she says. “I never saw this coming. … She loves what she does her, and you can’t believe that.”

Source: bethesdamagazine.com