Hi, my name is Valrie, the owner and fashion designer for Cherry Chic Designs. My grandmother and mother are my true inspiration in becoming a fashion designer. They were born and raised in Jamaica and both worked as seamstresses for a living.
My mother came to Canada from Jamaica in the 70’s in order to create a better life, raising 5 kids on her own. As a very young child I remember my mother used to sew day and night with myself on her lap and one of my sisters by her knee while the others were in school. In every piece of clothing she made, she would put her blood sweat and tears to ensure she would create the most perfect final product for every one of her clients.
One of the reasons why I became a designer, was for carrying the Grandeson/Frater/Powell Legacy as a seamstress, the second was for me, having the liberty of fine tuning hand crafted clothing to fit my body type as well as others.
My business has been around for about 5 years now and I am at a point in my life asking myself where do I want to go from here? I certainly want to expand and bring awareness not only in Calgary but other areas as well. However I want to take a different approach by making the time in getting to know people on a personal level, hearing their stores of themselves, family, their jobs and their challenges and truly try to merge that with my brand.
I took a quote from a fashion tv series and in one of the episodes he said; “this isn’t just an industry of making dresses and pants and tops in pretty colors.....cuz you can make a pretty dress, but if you can make a pretty dress that changes the way a women feels about herself....that’s something else.”
That quote I will carry with me every day and use as a guide into every piece I create. So come join me, from where I came from and onto the second phase of my journey!