Sew Modest Studio
Presents
Prose and Pose:
Exploring Literature through Fashion
Each designer was challenged to create a 7 piece collection based on the book of their choosing.
This fashion show is the culmination of 6 designers going through a 6 month design fellowship with the goal of digging into ourselves, the interconnection of our stories, our lives, and our ancestry as a source of design inspiration. The Theme for this year's design challenge is “Exploring Literature through Fashion”. It's a Fashion Design competition in which each designer is challenged with not only creating a beautiful collection of couture clothing; but also amplifying and telling their story on the main stage. It is an opportunity for the community to truly engage in learning, preserving and advocating for ourselves. To tell the stories that serge through our "Long Body" powerful tells that stir the soul, give our ancestors their rights and blow into the hearts, rekindling the interconnectedness of our humanity.
Event Details
Tickets:
FREE!
We are partnering with The Detroit Pubic Library to host this incredible event at zero cost to guest.
Date and time
Saturday, August 15th 2026 12:30pm to 5:30pm.
Doors open at 12.
12:30 - 1:30pm - Summer Camp Graduation Segment
1:30 - 2:30pm - Intermission - Desserts, Meet the Authors, Designers & Workshops.
2:30pm - Emerging Designers Segment
3:00 - 4:45pm - Main Stage - 5 Designers Tell their Story and Present Collections.
4:45 - 5:15pm - Live Audience voting for the 2026 Designer of the Year
5:20 Announcement of competition winner!
Location
Detroit Public Library: 3rd Floor Arts & Literature Department
5201 Woodward Ave. Detroit, MI 48202
LIVE AUDIENCE VOTING - YOU ARE THE JUDGE!
It's a Fashion Design competition in which each designer is challenged with not only creating a beautiful collection of couture clothing; but also amplifying and telling their story on the main stage.
The audience will vote in real time. You will get to cast your vote for:
Most Compelling Speech
Aesthetic and Technical Complexity/Execution of their Collection
How Well The Collection Encompasses Their Story
Location
Detroit Public Library: 3rd Floor Arts & Literature Department
5201 Woodward Ave. Detroit, MI 48202
The Detroit Public Library provides the perfect backdrop to draw audiences into the emotional world of book based couture fashion design, with its naturally moody lighting, cathedral ceilings, stunning stained-glass windows, grand archways and murals. The fashion, the storytelling, the art, the architecture, the archways—this will be an unforgettable event!
2026 Fellowship Cohort
Staff Picks!
LaTerry Abdulnoor Ya’Seen
Executive Director
My collection is inspired by the book, The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation written by Anna Malaika Tubbs It's described as "A fascinating exploration into the lives of 3 women ignored by history". I read this on the back cover and was like immediately like got damn! This is the perfect summary of my three mothers, the three women who raised and nurtured me: My mother Jacquinetta Ann Aaron, My Aunt Sandra K Jones and my God mother Rosetta Johnson.
My collection is called:
Lessons from My Three Mothers
It features 3 segments ( Protect Black People. Intellectualize Black People, & Love Black People) each with its own aesthetic that represents the beauty, personality, legacy and lessons of each woman.
Leads the Children's & the Corset Design and Construction Classes
Gi’ana Denise
I chose To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee because it was my favorite book in fifth grade. When I reread it a few years ago, it resonated with me in a new way and I was inspired to represent its moral and ethical conflicts, as well as its unmentioned elements through fashion.
My collection is called:
Fashion Paradox
For this collection my aesthetic is chic meets theatrical and avant-garde.
Fellowship Designers
Lena
The Devil and Mrs. Davenport by Paulette Kennedy is not just a story about madness. It’s about who gets to define sanity. Through fashion, I’m telling the story of women who were silenced and giving them a voice that can finally be seen.
My collection is called:
Silence…Styled…Seen!
For this collection, my aesthetic is vintage, feminine, chic.
Francis (Ember LaFíamma ) Roby
The book I chose is Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll, a story that moves through identity, perception, growth, and change. We all know that feeling. There are seasons where old versions of us no longer fit, where we are asked to be certain while still becoming. Identity is not always a fixed answer. Sometimes it is something we grow into.
My collection is called:
Ember in Wonderland
For this collection my aesthetic is eclectic dandyism with a hint of gothic influence.
Honeyy Bloom
My book is The Mountain is You by Brianna Wiest, a book that explores how self-sabotage and internal struggles can become the greatest barriers to our growth. It emphasizes the importance of self-awareness, healing, and transformation, showing that true change begins when we confront ourselves and choose to evolve.
My collection is called:
Soft Armor: A Collection on Becoming Her.
For this collection, my aesthetic is rooted in elegant, alluring, and feminine design. I explore softness as a form of strength, because femininity is not fragile, it is powerful. Softness is not weakness.
Love Monaé
My book is Romancing Mister Bridgerton by Julia Quinn. What happens when the person who has always been overlooked finally dares to be seen? Penelope Featherington lives in a world where being overlooked becomes her identity. And maybe that’s why her story feels so real—because at some point, many of us have felt invisible… unheard… or not quite enough. While many of us wear masks to hide what we’re going through, she took it a step further—creating a secret identity as her only safe place to feel, to speak, and to exist. Not to conceal herself but to finally be seen, to say the truths she couldn’t say out loud.