MILWAUKEE — Lynne Dixon-Speller is the founder of the Edessa School of Fashion.
The school is named after her grandmother, Edessa Meek-Dixon — a woman who didn’t just teach Dixon-Speller to sew but to pursue excellence in everything she made.
“I can feel her body on my shoulder, leaning in to see this little spot right here and ensuring that I’m doing it properly,” said Dixon-Speller. “I would think, ‘This is good enough,’ and she would think, ‘It’s not,’ and I had made garments that I had to take two or three times because I tried to do it when she wasn’t there.”
Back in Dixon-Speller’s childhood home, sewing wasn’t just a skill; it was a ritual.
She said her grandmother’s lessons weren’t limited to hems and seams. It was about making things that last.
“She taught me the way it needed to be done and as close to perfection as possible,” said Dixon-Speller“She taught me the way it needed to be done and as close to perfection as possible,” said Dixon-Speller. “That was always the goal with her: perfection. It needed to be able to be worn inside out.”
Dixon-Speller said she brings the same lessons to her students at Edessa School of Fashion.
Kierra McDonald is a 29-year-old mother of two who dreams of owning her own fashion line.
She got inspiration from her grandmother, who once ran her own dressmaking shop in Milwaukee.
“She used to bring me in there and measure me and make me outfits, and I just remember feeling like I was her own personal dress up doll,” said McDonald. “It was really nice and really fun. She passed away a couple years ago, but I decided I wanted to finish school and keep her legacy going.”
Last November, the Edessa School of Fashion held their annual fashion show at the Milwaukee Public Library. McDonald’s designs have already graced the runway there, including a black-and-gold suit she created during her sophomore year.
For Dixon-Speller, her grandmother’s influence extends far beyond fashion.
“A young Black woman from Texas who went to college in 1916, graduated in 1920, has now a full college named after her? It can happen to you, too,” she said.
