Jessica Faith Marshall took the microphone and addressed the Austin Fashion Week (AFW) crowd at Benold’s Jewelers with confidence and charisma. She explained the inspiration behind her new Faith by Jessica fall/winter 2013 collection as if she’d been doing it all her life. But the fashion designer is just 13.
While most teenagers are awkwardly fumbling through life, Marshall has been turning her passion into a business. But then again, Marshall’s never been an average kid. At five-years-old she started sketching designs. By eight-years-old she began creating garments on her own sewing machine. Marshall’s first fashion show was in the fifth grade.
“She’s very motivated,” Marshall’s mother Kristy says. The Cedar Park Public Library agreed to host Marshall’s first fashion show. Kristy Marshall, along with tutors, homeschool the budding designer, and the arrangement has helped her thrive in fashion.
Though she did attend public school during some grades, Jessica Marshall says she never felt she could relate to other students her age, especially when many of them saw fashion designing as a foreign concept. These days she surrounds herself by friends who do share her interest like models or fashion bloggers.
“She has a vision, and she’s willing to work hard,” Kristy Marshall says. As a mom she says she fully supports her, but doesn’t push or arrange things for her. “She coordinated all the models herself, the website and publicity. If she wants something, then she’ll find a way. So if she’s that driven, I’ll support it.”
Jessica Marshall’s elegant eye for design has been refining in the last few years, thanks to some guidance from the local fashion community. When she applied to participate in AFW about a year ago, she wasn’t quite ready to be a showcasing designer. But AFW founder Matt Swinney saw her potential, and paired her up with a mentor—noted fashion designer Linda Asaf.
“She gave me a lot of helpful advice, and encouraged me to stick to my design vision when creating my collection,” Jessica Marshall says. The Austin Fashion Week staff, she says, has also offered constructive criticism that has helped her improve. In December 2012, she sold her Holiday collection at Gallery D boutique on Second Street.
Her fall/winter 2013 collection was inspired by the city at night. Before moving to Austin, the Marshall family lived in New Jersey and often visited New York City. Jessica Marshall says, although she was very young, she remembers the thrill of the city life. That’s why she’s drawn to designing for a glamorous woman. Her sophisticated evening wear also incorporates some separates that can be dressed up such as jackets, skirts and shorts.
But even when hanging out, Jessica Marshall says she’s not a T-shirt and jeans kind of girl. “I love dressing up, shopping and watching fashion documentaries.”
She’s building her Faith by Jessica business, which means she’s now working with pattern makers, seamstresses and manufacturers. Recently while Jessica Marshall directed a fashion photo shoot, her mom took a step back and watched as her daughter took on this typically adult leadership role. “How is this even possible?” Kristy Marshall thought. “It was overwhelming. Sometimes I ask myself if I am doing the right thing, but then I see that she has a God-given talent that’s opened up her life. And I know it’s a blessing.”
Jessica Marshall says she hopes to return to New York one day to formally study fashion and immerse herself in one of the world’s fashion capitals. But in the meantime, she’s not just dreaming about her future, she’s making it happen.
Benold’s Jewelers was founded in 1929 as Laves Jewelry. The store, originally located on Austin’s historic Sixth Street, was passed down the Laves family until 2006 when longtime employee Milton Doolittle purchased the store on West Anderson Lane.
Doolittle has been a part of Benold’s Jewelers since the 1980s, and the staff itself is like a family. Some employees have been working there for more than 30-40 years, Doolittle says. The store has evolved into a place where Austinites can get designer-based fine jewelry that still fits Austin’s casual lifestyle.
Benold’s jewelry pieces were featured during a Monday night AFW showcase and paired with evening wear from Faith by Jessica.
Doolittle says he sees the jewelry business as a gift of love because “a young man doesn’t give a piece of jewelry to someone he doesn’t like.” Engagement rings are the store’s biggest draw, and Doolittle says he’s seen engagement rings over the years transform from simple pieces to works of art. “A woman wears her engagement ring every single day,” he says. “It lives with her.”
Over the decades, Doolittle has helped guide countless of men through the overwhelming engagement ring shopping experience. And after he sets them on the right track, it’s rare he ever gets a chance to hear about how the proposal went from the grooms-to-be.
But Doolittle will never forget the time he was dining at a local restaurant and spotted a familiar face at a table with the Benold’s Jewelers tote and box that Doolittle immediately recognized. In the middle of the restaurant, the diner got down on one knee and pulled out the Benold’s box and proposed.
“It was the first time I got to share my customer’s joy of that moment,” Doolittle says. “It made my evening.” The whole place applauded, the newly engaged couple was teary-eyed and Doolittle was reminded of why he got into the jewelry business.
Kim Kardashian was forced to make last minute changes to her dress thanks to her changing baby body. Copyright …A source said: ‘She had the Givenchy severely altered at the last minute on orders of her new stylist.
Nadine (aka Troetelbeertje) verwelkomt onze gasten met Jip & Janneke-cocktails, Smarties cakejes en Flugel! 
Onze gasten vermaakte zich prima in hun verkleedoutfits van voetbalspeler tot zuster en 007.
Ikzelf verkleed als prinses presenteer de Pub Quiz en zang & dans act La May staat op de bar.
Chinese Clothing Online Shop 