Exclusively Kela Fashion Report: "Exclusively Kela"

Let me introduce myself! Hi! I'm Kela Norman! Born Lakeita
Kathleen Johnson May 6,1979 in New Orleans,LA. I am a mother of four children a 10 year old daughter and three boys ages 8,4, and 3! Fashion is truly my passion and I treat it as ART and not just things to make or wear. My love for fashion begin as early as 4 years old when I was able to be creative in Pre-K by drawing ladies and coloring their dresses with designs! Shoes,earrings,handbags and hair accessories would also be added to the drawing! At 9 years old I handmade my first skirt using plaid material and elastic in the waistband! I remember being so excited and loving every moment of the 4H project!

Kela Norman

While in the 6th grade and always setting out to do something new,stylish, and creative, I made my first pair of denim earrings with a piece of denim fabric and a stud earring attached to it! In high school I was into shopping,doing hair, and just being as pretty as ever. My whole life all I have ever wanted to do was have a TV show providing make-overs,start my own fashion magazine, and design clothing for my upscale Boutique that I would one day open! Once I graduated from high school, I majored in Nursing,Business Management and then finally Accounting at Dillard University from 97-99.One evening at the age of 19 I was watching the SOURCE awards and Lil Kim had on this one piece outfit, At that moment I put my wish into the universe and said that "I was going to be a designer. I wish that I could say that things went smoothly how ever at 22 after not completing school and transferring a few times I gave birth to my beautiful daughter Donavian! 20 months later came her little brother Donald Jr. So as one can imagine, due to the pressures of having a family I had to place my dreams on hold for just a moment to work a full-time job and raise children! While working at AT&T, I was thumbing through The Employment Guide and saw an ad for Bauder College! At that point I decided to continue my education and finally pursue my dream of becoming a designer.

So in 2004 at the age of 25, I entered the Fashion Design program at Bauder College. I must say it was rather challenging working full-time, going to school full- time, raising two small children, in addition to helping to raise my teenage nieces and sister! It was at Bauder that I learned to make clothing and the accessories came as an extra gift! I literally learned overnight how to make pieces! The accessories were unique and stylish! My professors and fellow students were big supporters of my designs! I did my best in school but due to a car accident in the Summer of 05 I was unable to complete the Fashion design program! :( However, that did not stop my grind! In October of 2005 while working for a Collections agency I met Denocka Wardrick the Creator of H.E.M.P HOP Magazine. At the time I had already been hosting and co-producing TV for Makadonia TV productions with Makhronico for his show on Channel 24 People TV in Atlanta. Even though I had not obtained a degree, I continued networking to spread the word about my company! After having two more children on 2007 (Caleb) and 2008 (Jermurray), and getting married 6/07, I put my grind in full force ,started a website (Exclusively Kela),and am currently building a Fashion empire!

*How would I define my city's fashion?
Bold,colorful,stylish, a melting pot just as the city of New Orleans used to be described.

Kikeara Image Group Photagraphy
Exclusively Kela Accessories

*What are some of my accomplishments as a designer?
Product placement in Controversy Boutique and Vitesse exchange. In 2010 Nominated as Best Accessory Designer in Atlanta,Creating my own website, and online store. KeKe Wyatt wore a pair of my earrings for her album cover. I have done Magazine editing, photo shoots, and produced my own local TV show in ATL.

KeKe Wyatt Rocking Exclusively Kela Earrings

*Who are some of my favorite designers?
Roberto Cavalli, Vera Wang, Alexander McQueen, Coco Chanel

*What do I believe makes a quality article of clothing? Fit and the life of the garment. If it can last past 3 washings and still look great after years, that makes it high quality to me.

Kikeara Image Group Photography
Exclusively Kela Earrings

*Do I consider myself an artist?Yes. I believe fashion is ART and can be used as an outlet for the expression of ARTISTIC Minds!

Kikeara Image Group Photography
Exclusively Kela Earrings

*How would I define the style my line exemplifies? My style defines classic meets trendy, meets Urban(street). I love to blend denim,chain,lace,pearls, and blingy beads!

*What are some of my fashion goals?
My main goal is to increase the popularity of my product by branding the name and increasing my profit share. I also want to expand my territory of my blog as well as my product. Becoming a household name and keeping the world fly is what I feel like I was born to do!

*What do I like best about designing clothes?
I like being able to add my own flavor to different styles of clothing that I like. I also like to reconstruct pieces and add my signature classy/street style to it!

www.exclusivelykela.com

Me an my 1st fashion show @ 12 Hotel in Atlanta 2006

*What do I dislike about designing clothes?
Sewing! Sometimes when my energy is low or I'm in a bad mood, it effects my sewing and operation of the sewing machine.

*Where do I get my inspiration? I get my inspiration from nature,movies,videos,people,art,magazines, etc.. I can put pieces together instantly! When shopping for pieces to make jewelry I sometimes know instantly what I am going to create.