While Nashville may be best known for its music, the city is emerging as a player in the fashion world.
“I classify Nashville as a creative economy,” says Jamie Atlas, Fashion Chair at Belmont University's O'More College of Architecture and Design. “What you have here are a lot of independent fashion businesses. It’s very artisan driven and becoming a hub for jewelry design, leather goods, and footwear design. Large companies like Genesco and Nisolo, as well as smaller brands, have been headquartered here for years. Now, it’s the independent fashion brands that are moving to Nashville.”
As the department chair for over 20 years, Atlas also serves as the producer of the O’More Fashion Show. Her background in fashion merchandising includes experience with specialty and department store chains to direct sales and ecommerce. She’s worked for numerous brands, including Nashville-based Johnston & Murphy.
“I was ready to make a change and I thought it would be great to start sharing my knowledge with others,” says Atlas, who has lived in the Bellevue area for 25 years. “It’s nice sharing what I’ve learned, and I’m constantly learning more because the fashion industry changes so much.” She transitioned to teaching at O’More College and continued after the college merged with Belmont University in 2018.
Belmont/O’More offers a unique fashion program in that students can choose from a BFA degree in Fashion Design or Merchandising, preparing them for a variety of career options in the fashion world. With opportunities to study in fashion cities, such as London, Florence, Helsinki, New York City, and Los Angeles, the university is helping to create the next generation of fashion industry leaders.
Each year the senior fashion students showcase their best work, from design to execution, in an annual fashion show, that may also include jewelry, hats, or handbags that complete the outfits.
“Our annual show is a culmination of their strongest work,” explains Atlas. “Seniors take the skills they’ve learned, from patterning to construction to draping to technology and let their creative juices flow.”
In addition to showcasing seniors, the junior design students are challenged to identify a need in the fashion world that is not being met, and create a solution for it. Over the years, students have designed clothes for individuals with Parkinson’s and Lou Gehrig’s disease, featuring magnetic closures or clasps that make them easier to get on and off, as well as designs for those with autism or Down syndrome, who may have tactile and sensory issues.
For the past two years O’More has partnered with Daybreak Arts, a nonprofit founded by Belmont alum Nicole Minyard.
“It gives people who are affected by housing insecurity a place to go to work on their art and, hopefully, develop it to the point that it can sustain a living for them,” says Atlas.
O’More Students designed mini collections inspired by Daybreak artists’ creations. Audiences were able to view artist galleries and purchase work through a QR code at the show.
“The goal is for the audience to learn about Daybreak Arts in a new and fun way and to help raise awareness and funds for the organization,” says Atlas.
“It’s our partnerships with nonprofits that really make an impact and make this a ‘show with purpose.’ It’s not just designing clothes; it’s very purposeful for the student designers and the people who are having something designed for them. Those are the projects our students and alums still talk about. They’re justifiably proud of their collections and other things that we do, but when there’s a purpose behind involved, it becomes more meaningful.”
