Ethnic-American brides have long sought to add cultural touches to their wedding attire. It was Therez Fleetwood’s desire to fill this neglected niche market that prompted her to create the Therez Fleetwood Bridal Collection, a unique line of wedding gowns that combine Ethnic fabrics and regional influences with European cuts and silhouettes.

Ms. Fleetwood started the company in 1996 after being asked to design a wedding dress exclusively for Jumping The Broom, The African-American Wedding Planner, by former fashion editor of Essence magazine, Harriet Cole. The success of the book brought an overwhelming demand for Therez’s wedding gown and encouraged her to expand her bridal collection.

“Our society is a melting pot of various cultures”, says Fleetwood, “but for a long time, brides wore traditional wedding dresses that did not represent their diversity. My dresses bring together different cultures in a way that is very fashion-forward”.

Ms. Fleetwood uses fabrics such as Nigerian Ashoke clothe (which has metallic threads woven in patterns similar to Kente cloth) and Guinea brocade from West Africa to create her highly tailored gowns. The detailing in her designs is inspired
by the dress of west, sub-Saharan and northern African countries, as well as India and the Caribbean. Fleetwood also enhances diverse fabrics with hand beading or decorative trims sewn onto the dresses in detailed designs. A special trademark
of her wedding gowns is that each includes a matching headpiece with a detachable veil.

Since launching her collection, Ms. Fleetwood has quickly become known as the leading designer of Ethnic bridal wear. Her gowns have appeared in magazines such as In Style Weddings, Essence, Signature Bride, and Black Elegance. She designed the only wedding gown to be featured in the Essence By Mail catalogue and was one of 35 designers to have a display in the ‘New York Gets Married’ exhibit at the Museum of the City, May through September, 1997.

In 1996, the popularity of the Therez Fleetwood Bridal Collection caught the eye of executives at American Express and she was selected for the national commercial entitled ‘Portraits’, featuring four small businesses. Later that year, the producers of the NBC Today Show invited her to showcase several of her unique Ethnic bridal gowns. Ms. Fleetwood’s entrepreneurial sprit and the success of her designs earned her the Allstate Insurance Company’s 1997 “From Whence We Came: African- American Women of Triumph” Award.

Ms. Fleetwood, who attended the Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.) in New York, began her career in Ethnic design in 1990 with the launching of her Phe-Zula Collection. It was a well received line of casual, career and formal wear which was featured in an array of publications, including Elle, Italian Glamour, Women’s Wear Daily, and The New York Times.

Under Phe-Zula, Ms. Fleetwood developed a long list of celebrity clientele, Including: Angela Bassett, Vanessa Williams, Queen Latifah and the popular recording group En Vogue who she dressed for the 1991 Grammy Awards. She also designed the first Afrocentric costumes for Walt Disney World’s Mickey and Minnie Mouse in Orlando, Florida. Her acclaimed formal wear has been displayed at F.I.T.’s Tribute to the Black Fashion Museum and appears in the Fairchild text book publications entitled Survey of Historic Costume second edition, copyright (c)1994 and third edition, copyright (c) 1998.