There’s a new creative outlet coming to the West County side of town this December. The Fashion Class, a kids’ sewing and fashion design studio founded in Manhattan by Kerri Quiley, is opening its very first franchise location in Ladue. Local owner Victoria Feldman is bringing the concept home to St. Louis, where she has a background in footwear and fashion.
St. Louis has serious fashion roots — the city is even credited with introducing the first cocktail dress — but sewing lessons have been hard to come by since home economics faded from schools. This new studio aims to fill that gap with hands-on classes, camps, and birthday parties for kids from toddler age through their teens, plus a few offerings just for grown-ups.
Here’s what the Ladue studio will offer:
- Mommy & Me Crafty Tots (ages 2–4) and Sew & Grow for Toddlers (ages 3–4) — textile and craft projects for the littlest learners.
- Little Designers (ages 5–6) — an early step into fashion creativity.
- Fashion Design & Sewing (ages 7–12) — the signature classes where kids design and sew their own pieces.
- The Fashion Design Lab (ages 5–12) — fashion illustration, branding, and the business side of fashion.
- Teens (13–17) — portfolio development for design school applications and advanced techniques.
- Adults — social sewing nights like Sip & Sew and Sewcial.
Memberships let students work toward building capsule wardrobes, stitching up pants, hoodies, and dresses over time. At the end of each season, elementary students walk the runway in a fashion show for family and friends.
Rotating workshops will keep things fresh throughout the year: Halloween costumes and trick-or-treat bags, American Girl doll dresses, Squishmallows, holiday gifts, Valentine’s Day heart pillows, fashion sketching, red-carpet dressmaking, and Mother’s Day projects.
Feldman says the real goal goes beyond the stitches — it’s about giving kids the confidence to create something that’s entirely their own. She remembers a young student in New York who sewed the silk romper she wore to her school choir concert. “How cool is it that she made it and was so proud of it?” she said.
She’s just as excited about the kids who haven’t found their creative spark yet. “I’m excited about the kid that already loves fashion and dressing up, but I’m also excited about finding the child that doesn’t know they love it yet — the girl that is maybe a little shy but they find this activity and they light up,” she added.
For teens serious about fashion, the studio will help build portfolios for design school applications, with plans for guest speakers and potential partnerships with the St. Louis Fashion Fund. “I wasn’t a sports kid, it wasn’t my thing,” Feldman said. “This is great for all kids, but especially the little ones that need to find ‘their thing’ and their spark.”
Hiring is already underway, with a grand opening tentatively planned for December. Registration for spring break camps is expected to follow, along with an Emmy-themed party where kids can design their own sparkly outfits.
