It was a little over 16 years ago when I met Jennifer Neal at Shenandoah Elementary School. She was tall, athletic, and very humble in everything that she did. I reminisce on the days when we had kickball in gym class and how she would kick the ball so high and far up in the sky that folks would have to run practically forever as she sprinted to each base to an easy homerun. I remember sharing a cabin with her in 6th grade camp, skipping a class in high school for Valentine's Day while having breakfast at First Watch and lastly, her knocking my peanuts and jelly beans out of my hands on our trip to Toronto for our orchestra competition.
In between the years, Jenny went through her "formative years" to become the rising fashion designer she is today. She would stroll the hallways in high school with wide leg jeans on way cooler than J'NCOs. They were so cool, I HAD to ask her where she got them. One day, she left me the "recipe" to wide leg jeans hand written on wide rule paper tucked away in a pastel blue envelope that had "TOP SECRET" written all over it. To this day I still have Jenny's first recipe to wide leg jeans and I have long held it a secret showing no one but myself this wonderful design in all its simplicity.
One day, two years ago, I told Jenny that I was going to apply for an internship with ALIVE Magazine and that I think she should as well. On that Saturday, both of us were sprinting to ALIVE Magazine's office trying to make the 11am start time for the open house and we ended up strolling in at 11:07am barely taking a seat in the jam-packed board room. It was hot that day and many hopefuls had to stand against the wall as the process of selection was explained and as we introduced ourselves. I remember Jenny stating that she WILL be a fashion intern for ALIVE Magazine with the utmost confidence. From that day forward, her fire began to burn strongly as she made her way up through the ranks. Working side by side with Jill Manoff and renowned photographers such as Tuan Lee, she has had her work published on billboards, ALIVE Magazine (see October Issue fashion spread), catalogs for Weissman's Dancewear and recently at the annual event Artopia. However, her most proud moment was getting her designs on the runway this previous March for Project Design! (segment of Saint Louis Fashion Week) for the first time. I had the honor of producing the images which ran for competition for her slot on Project Design! as well as the honor of shooting images on the runway for Saint Louis Fashion Week. Most of her models I knew from working with on my own photography projects so it made me so proud to see her and my models come alive on the runway.
Jenny has recently completed another successful run for St. Louis Fashion Week’s Project:Design! which premiered October 12, 2009. However, Jenny did make time for me and my model Erin (who was featured on the runway for Project:Design!) to showcase one of her most recent designs from Artopia. I call it the binary cuffs as the theme for Artopia was computers and the future. Erin was featured in my shoot on September 19, 2009 wearing Jenny’s binary cuffs, a grey off the shoulder tee with pocket, black leggings, a belted tutu with accent leather strings and some black rugged boots for edge. Jenny’s designs are mostly unisex with emphasis on individuality immersed in black and greys. While shooting, Erin and I brought up the need for plus size couture wear. Jenny has made two couture pieces for me in the past and I adore those pieces. She designed a long sleeve brown bell bottom sleeve top alongside a tan fitted pleated skirt. Knowing my girl, I know she will come up with a line for us thick girls and only time will tell when that happens. Until then, I am proud of what my best friend has become and I know that no matter how busy she is, we will always be connected through the industry….
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