Melissa Lea Beasley ~ Executive Producer, Executive Director
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Melissa won numerous top awards for her designs while attending fashion design school in Chicago. She was the only one to win both top design awards in a single competition among 45 fashion design schools in the Midwest region: Best of Show and The Rita Johnston Award / Scholarship at Fashion Group Internationals 1998 design competition. These awards presented her with the opportunity to study abroad and travel extensively
throughout parts of Europe. She completed her internship alongside Manuel Cuevas – Couture Designer of The Entertainment World – at his couture house in Nashville, Tennessee. There she assisted in creating stylish masterpieces for several high profile artists including Brooks & Dunn, Kid Rock, and Johnny Cash.
While building her business in Chicago, Melissa was an Associate Professor of Fashion Design and Merchandising at the International Academy of Merchandising and Design. She later accepted an opportunity from O’More College of Design in Franklin, TN. There she lead the expansion of the
fashion design department through a four year growth phase which included overseeing all remodeling of the sewing lab in addition to constructing new class outlines and collaborating on re-construction of Fashion Design Curriculum. She also assisted O’More president, Dr. K. Mark Hilliard in
public relations and campus growth opportunities. During this time, she completed training in Atlanta, GA where she earned her computer-aided
pattern drafting certification from Gerber Technology and was the only certified “Gerber Girl” in the state of TN. Melissa is currently a part-time
instructor in the Fashion Design department of Santa Fe Community College.
Her love of fashion has be displayed both on stage and behind the scenes. Being a part of fashion show production teams in Chicago, IL, Nashville & Franklin, TN, and Santa Fe, NM, she has managed the backstage coordination of as many as 300 people at one time throughout the years in venues such as Chicago's Historic Navy Pier, Union Station, and The Chicago Museum, as well as The Factory at Franklin in Franklin, TN.
Melissa feels at home residing in Albuquerque, New Mexico, a few blocks away from her beloved Route 66. In 2010, Melissa founded the Albuquerque Apparel Center, which quickly branched out into New Mexico Fashion Week and NMFashionInfo.com shortly after, all of which focus
on helping to connect, support, and grow New Mexico’s apparel and fashion industry. Information on the center and its affiliates can be found via their websites: AlbuquerqueApparelCenter.com, NewMexicoFashionWeek.com and NMFashionInfo.com. Under her artist name “Melissa Lea”, she provides Couture, Custom and Costume Clothing Services. Her other artistic endeavors, Melissa Lea fine art jewelry and photography, is available in select galleries throughout the state.
To learn more about Melissa Lea, visit the AAC Founder page at ABQApparelCenter.com.
throughout parts of Europe. She completed her internship alongside Manuel Cuevas – Couture Designer of The Entertainment World – at his couture house in Nashville, Tennessee. There she assisted in creating stylish masterpieces for several high profile artists including Brooks & Dunn, Kid Rock, and Johnny Cash.
While building her business in Chicago, Melissa was an Associate Professor of Fashion Design and Merchandising at the International Academy of Merchandising and Design. She later accepted an opportunity from O’More College of Design in Franklin, TN. There she lead the expansion of the
fashion design department through a four year growth phase which included overseeing all remodeling of the sewing lab in addition to constructing new class outlines and collaborating on re-construction of Fashion Design Curriculum. She also assisted O’More president, Dr. K. Mark Hilliard in
public relations and campus growth opportunities. During this time, she completed training in Atlanta, GA where she earned her computer-aided
pattern drafting certification from Gerber Technology and was the only certified “Gerber Girl” in the state of TN. Melissa is currently a part-time
instructor in the Fashion Design department of Santa Fe Community College.
Her love of fashion has be displayed both on stage and behind the scenes. Being a part of fashion show production teams in Chicago, IL, Nashville & Franklin, TN, and Santa Fe, NM, she has managed the backstage coordination of as many as 300 people at one time throughout the years in venues such as Chicago's Historic Navy Pier, Union Station, and The Chicago Museum, as well as The Factory at Franklin in Franklin, TN.
Melissa feels at home residing in Albuquerque, New Mexico, a few blocks away from her beloved Route 66. In 2010, Melissa founded the Albuquerque Apparel Center, which quickly branched out into New Mexico Fashion Week and NMFashionInfo.com shortly after, all of which focus
on helping to connect, support, and grow New Mexico’s apparel and fashion industry. Information on the center and its affiliates can be found via their websites: AlbuquerqueApparelCenter.com, NewMexicoFashionWeek.com and NMFashionInfo.com. Under her artist name “Melissa Lea”, she provides Couture, Custom and Costume Clothing Services. Her other artistic endeavors, Melissa Lea fine art jewelry and photography, is available in select galleries throughout the state.
To learn more about Melissa Lea, visit the AAC Founder page at ABQApparelCenter.com.