Florida designer collections to be shown at 2024 Milan, South Africa fashion weeks

Gianna Montesano, Treasure Coast Newspapers
Updated ·3 min read

PORT ST. LUCIE — Kalle Jackson's life changed when her husband bought her a sewing machine for Mother's Day seven years ago.

"Fashion saved my life," Jackson said.

Fashion designer Kallee Jackson stands with her fashion creations inside her business Maison De Kallee Jackson at 340 NW Enterprise Drive Suite 103 across from Clover Park on Friday, Nov. 10, 2023, in Port St. Lucie. Jackson said she started seven years ago when her husband bought her first sewing machine as a Mother’s Day gift. "I had no experience so I am self-taught," Jackson said.

Sewing and designing clothing helped Jackson through her depression and, in less than a decade, allowed her to create something beyond her wildest dreams.

"To know that I'm here in seven years is absolutely amazing," Jackson said. "Because now I'm thinking, 'OK, if I can do this in seven (years), then what am I going to be doing in 15 or 20?'"

Jackson opened the Maison De Kallee Jackson design center in a storefront in 2022 in western Port St. Lucie. She is the sole designer and has two seamstresses helping her create her gowns, ready-to-wear clothing lines and accessories.

When Stuart attorney Donna DeMarchi was introduced to Jackson three years ago, she found a designer for life.

DeMarchi owns three custom gowns, recalling that the dresses always leave her "feeling like a princess."

"She puts her love and every dress and you can feel that," DeMarchi said.

It can take Jackson as little as six hours to create a gown, she said. She made 133 dresses in 2022 and so far this year she's topped 200.

Maison De Kallee Jackson, which translates to "House of Kallee Jackson," is a full-service fashion house, which provides customers with a unique experience, from designing garments to sourcing fabrics to producing the items.

Globetrotting her designs

Jackson was invited to New York Fashion Week for the first time in 2020.

Kallee Jackson (right) works with her customer Laurie Davis, of Fort Pierce, to find the perfect accessories on Friday, Nov. 10, 2023, in Port St. Lucie. "I come to her with everything, any special event I need a dress for this is where I come," Davis said. "She did my wedding dress, she's done birthday dresses, she styles me, I come to her with everything, any special event I need a dress for this is where I come."

This year, she has taken her collections to New York Fashion Week in February and to Paris Fashion Week at the end of September.

She created 10 French-inspired pieces for the Paris show.

As a designer, her goal is to create timeless pieces of clothing that are still stylish, regardless of the current trends.

"I'd like for you to buy a dress from me and 10 years from now you can still wear that dress because it's not outdated," Jackson said.

Next year, Maison De Kallee Jackson has been invited to walk in Milan and South Africa's fashion weeks.

She will also be competing in Fashion Forward, a television fashion competition in Dubai that features designers worldwide, in February 2024.

"The good thing about Milan is I get the opportunity to go back in 2025 or 2026 and do my own show," Jackson said. "I'd literally be operating on the level of like Tom Ford."

To participate in international fashion weeks, designers must be invited by a third party which invites sellers, buyers, stylists and a team to help put together the show.

Models pose with designer Kallee Jackson (middle) during New York Fashion Week 2023 on Feb. 11, 2023.
Models pose with designer Kallee Jackson (middle) during New York Fashion Week 2023 on Feb. 11, 2023.

Investing in her community

Jackson grew up in poverty in Mandeville, Jamaica, and immigrated to Stuart in 2002. In 2015 she moved to Port St. Lucie with her husband and three teenage children.

Kallee Jackson stands with one of her creations inside her business in Port St. Lucie. Jackson said some of her dress creations have been featured in Elle and Glamour magazines.
Kallee Jackson stands with one of her creations inside her business in Port St. Lucie. Jackson said some of her dress creations have been featured in Elle and Glamour magazines.

As a child, she excelled academically, but being poor limited her from indulging in shopping for dresses and shoes like most girls do. This year, she wants to give two prom dresses to two high-achieving, low-income high school girls so they can get the full " treatment."

"I know what it is like to be such a good kid in school but you just cannot afford that dress, shoes or even food," Jackson said. "So I want at least two young women to feel absolutely amazing going to prom. So if I can give a dress, then that's what I'm going to do."

Expanding her brand

Prom season begins early for Jackson; she began accepting orders for spring 2024 dresses in October.

While her clients are typically from the area, she has made prom dresses for customers in Pennsylvania and Mississippi.

In between sales, fashion designer Kallee Jackson works on sketching new ideas for dresses while in her shop on Friday, Nov. 10, 2023, in Port St. Lucie.
In between sales, fashion designer Kallee Jackson works on sketching new ideas for dresses while in her shop on Friday, Nov. 10, 2023, in Port St. Lucie.

Jackson wants eventually to open fashion boutiques in Jupiter or Wellington, keeping her design and production center in Port St. Lucie.

Her goal is to have boutiques around the world, but for now, her focus is the Treasure Coast and South Florida.

Gianna Montesano is TCPalm’s trending reporter. You can contact her at gianna.montesano@tcpalm.com, 772-409-1429, or follow her on X (formerly Twitter) @gonthescene.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Maison De Kalle Jackson attended New York, Paris Fashion Week in 2023