National-known clothing designer turns focus to community, kids

Designer known for creating polished images for professional athletes, giving challenged kids and schools new images through a community-based program

(Charlotte, NC) – February 6, 2008 - Designer to the Stars Cary Mitchell, who has designed clothes for some of the biggest names in professional sports, including Tiger Woods, Dwight Howard, LeBron James, Emmitt Smith, Ken Griffey, Jr., is turning his time and talent to the community through his Fashion in the Schools program (FITS).

Mitchell’s vision to develop this program was fueled by a childhood diagnosis of dyslexia. Mitchell struggled with education, failing the fourth and sixth grades, which decreased his self-esteem. After enrolling in a prestigious private school in his hometown of Richmond, VA, his reading skills improved and so did his self-esteem. His passion for improving the quality of public education for disadvantaged youth and his personal testimony fueled Mitchell to create FITS in 2006.

The program is designed to increase student achievement at Title I schools. Program goals include eliminating the competition to have desirable clothing that often distracts students from learning, decreasing the amount of time spent on classroom discipline, and preventing gang members from wearing gang colors and insignia at school.

FITS is administered as an afterschool program for selected students at each selected school. The four-week program includes a design-based curriculum that introduces students to careers in the design industry (not necessarily fashion design) and allows them to help design unique school uniforms for their school. The afterschool component, which is completely run by Mitchell, features the advice of other design professionals to assist with other design topics – photography, graphic design, merchandising/visual store display – and provides students with an opportunity to explore fashion and business careers up close during a visit to a fashion and business school in Atlanta.

In October 2006, Mitchell implemented the program at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School (MLK), located in Charlotte, NC (part of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School System).

MLK is recognized as a Title I middle school and is in what Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) has dubbed its Achievement Zone. Schools in the Achievement Zone have below average English, math and science test scores, and more than 75 percent of their students are on free or reduced lunch, an indicator commonly used to demonstrate students are living at or below the poverty line. Based on this information, Mitchell believed MLK was the perfect candidate for FITS.

The FITS program debuted at MLK in October 2006. During that month Mitchell worked with MLK students to design a school uniform. Every student in the school had an opportunity to choose their favorite colors, logos and word marks from a list of different ones. He then worked closely with a group of 20 students – the design team – to develop concepts for the school uniform.

Mitchell met with the design team for four weeks afterschool introducing them to various aspects of the fashion design process, including fabric and color selection. At the end of the four weeks, which included a trip to one of Atlanta’s fashion design schools, Mitchell and the team presented five school uniform designs to the student body. The completed uniforms will be distributed to students at MLK the week of January 14.

Each MLK student will receive a long-sleeve oxford, short-sleeve golf shirt and pants at no charge. Other pieces of the uniform collection are available for purchase at discount prices from the school’s Parent Teacher Association (PTA). Proceeds from uniform sales will go directly to the PTA to help fund school projects.

“The FITS Program is a revolutionary concept that captures the students’ imaginations and creativity through the world of Fashion,” says Harold Dixon, CMS community relations specialist. “The program exposes students to career options, assists schools with increasing student morale and test scores, while providing needed financial support.”

By all counts FITS implementation at MLK was a success. So much so, it caught the attention of one of the largest financial institutions in the country – Wachovia Bank, NA. Wachovia made a commitment to helping Mitchell implement the program in other Charlotte schools through a grant from its foundation. With a $25,000 grant in hand from the Wachovia Foundation, support from other companies and individuals (including several clients) Mitchell will implement the program in three other Charlotte middles schools by the end of the 2007-2008 school year.

“The grant from the Wachovia Foundation and support of several local businesses, individuals and a few of my clients has made FITS a success in Charlotte. My goal is to take this program to school districts across the country,” said Mitchell. “We are continuing to seek support from corporations, business and individuals that want to change the face of public education in our country. We need financial help support to do this.”

If you would like to make a contribution to the FITS program, contact the Fashion in the Schools program by logging onto www.fashionintheschools.com.

- www.carymitchelldesigns.com-

Brandi N. Williams, APR
studio b public relations
6934 Tanners Creek Drive
Huntersville, NC 28078
704-779-1100 (cell)

studio b is a boutique public relations firm in the Charlotte metro area focused on corporate social responsibility and community relations.

This release was published on openPR.