SHERITA MECHELLE JENNINGS
Sherita Jennings was born into a family of self-taught artists: her grandmother
specializes in sewing and patternmaking, her mother in confectionary, her father
in painting, and her grandfather in carpentry. By the time she was nine
-years-old, it was her stepmother, who worked as a secretary by day and fashion
designer by night, who inspired her dream of becoming a designer.
Jennings went on to attend high school at the South Carolina Governor's School
of the Arts and Humanities, where she studied Visual Arts with a focus in Art
History and Sculpture. Years later she attended Moore College of Art and Design
in Philadelphia, the only all women's design school in the country. During her
senior year, she was awarded the Tiffany & Co. Women's leadership Fellowship,
which gave her the opportunity to visit Ghana, West Africa. There she studied
native textile techniques of Kente Cloth Weaving and Adinkra stamping. From
this trip, Jennings refined her design process to combine elements of story
telling with the traditional costume's and textile tradition's of global cultures.
"My experience with local artisans in Ghana helped me understand my subconscious
attraction to certain colors, patterns, and natural materials," she said.
Today Jennings has culminated these elements with a love affair for draping,
beading, and jewelry to create VISCERA NY, a women's luxe ready-to-wear line.
As a designer, Jennings goal is to become a premiere African-American luxury
designer.