Designer Mom Gets Creative While Kids Are In School

 Monday, December 1, 2008

My name is Karen Lozner and I am a womens and girls clothing designer. I sell from my online store (karenecouture.com) and studio. I am constantly creating new designs and posting them on my website. Therefore I require a lot of quiet time alone to be creative and productive.

I really love creating new designs for women and girls. However, I find that I am most creative when I'm alone in my studio and can have actual creative thoughts. In fact, when my children (4 & 8 years old) are in school, I have a blast creating new designs for my clothing collection. My clothes are vintage - inspired so a lot of my time is spent doing a lot of research on different fabric types and designs. Most of my time, however is spent on workmanship. I see myself in the eyes of a customer and believe that if a piece of clothing is not made well, it is not worth looking at. I consider each piece of garment that I have designed and made, as a work of art as well as a family heirloom.

I am grateful for my two wonderful kids and the joys they bring me. I'm also grateful and excited about having quiet time alone in which I can indulge in creativeness.
fashionclassesnj.com
fashionclassesny.com
karenecouture.com

Loving Life!

 February 08, 2010

Hi it's me again...Karen. I should be making a pattern and sewing it up right now, but instaed I am choosing to write on my blog to update it.

While still working hard (balancing kids, husband & website karenecouture.com), I am working as a Fashion Design instructor at Around The Corner Art Center in Freehold, New Jersey. The children I teach are between the ages of 8 and 16 years old. I teach fashion figure drawing, designing and all of the good stuff that goes along with fashion design.

Thankfully, the children are all very eager to learn, making my job as a fashion design instrucor a piece of cake! I never realized how teaching others could have such a gratifying impact on my life!
fashionclassesnj.com

Designer’s Adventure in the World of Fashion

As a child, I remember sneaking into my grandparents’ bedroom to steal bedsheets that I would magically turn into a dress for my doll or for myself.

This was the start of my adventure in fashion design.

Attending the High School of Fashion Industries in Manhattan, I was given the tools and the knowledge to create garments that were a part of the class curriculum.

During the college years at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) I graduated with a degree in Fashion Design, but knew that having a career in fashion was not as easy as it seemed. After having to work late hours as a fashion design assistant for some high end companies including DKNY, I got cold feet when thinking of a career in the fashion world.

As the years went by and having enough design experience to hold my own, I realized that designing clothing for a company was not in my agenda. I wanted more. Marriage, kids and my very own fashion business.

In 2002, after the birth of my 1st child, Ariana, my desire to open a design atelier came true. I loved being a mom, but also loved creating my own clothing designs. It didn’t take long before I started Karen Elizabeth Couture (www.karenecouture.com), a women’s & girl’s clothing line focusing on special occasion dresses.

It was now all up to me to design what I wanted and when I wanted. The only issue was that working as a designer from home and having to care for a baby, no longer allowed me the luxury to travel into the City to oversee production. Therefore, I decided to save the trips into Manhattan and sew the garments myself, once again subjecting myself to working long hours at night while my husband and baby slept.

In 2009, while balancing two kids (Ariana & Ilan) and a fashion business, I was offered a part time job as a fashion design instructor. It didn’t take much before I knew that teaching fashion design was what I was cut out for. Combining my love for fashion together with my love of teaching, work was easy. I finally felt a sense of accomplishment.

In February 2012, I opened Fashion Classes of NJ in Morganaville (www.fashionclassesnj.com) a design school offering camps and classes to kids ages 8 through adults. The courses consist of fashion sketching, pattern making, sewing, textile design, Photoshop classes and jewelry design.  At the end of the year, students participate in the annual fashion show which allows them
to showcase their hard work throughout the year.

Today, as I look back at my ‘fashion adventure’ I realize that those obstacles were just lessons to be learned. It felt like a lifetime before I reached the right path. Sharing my years of expertise with students of all ages has been the most rewarding path of all.

Hi All! My name is Karen Elizabeth Lozner and I'm the founder and creative director of Fashion Classes of NJ, a fashion design school for kids & adults located in central New Jersey.
I started the fashion design school in February 2012 after having my own fashion design label (Karen Elizabeth Couture) for many years.
My mission & goal for the school is to give the students (ages 8 & up) the opportunity to express themselves through the art of fashion design. The classes are catered to those who love to create their own clothing design, jewelry piece, bag....or really anything!
The students begin an 8-week Basic Design & Sewing class by drawing their ideas on paper (building a collection) and then creating the actual garment through pattern making, draping & sewing.
Jewelry and Bag-making classes are also for 8-week sessions and begin with designing on paper and creating the jewelry piece or bag through pattern making, sewing, specialized tools, dyes and more.
The most exciting program implemented is the Fashion Runway program in which students of all ages design for the Annual Fashion Show at the end of the year. The program runs for 32 weeks and includes fashion design computerized/drawing (build a collection), textile design (students design their own fabric), patter making/draping and sewing.
The most recent fashion show was on March 17th. at the beautiful Addison Park in Aberdeen....absolutely gorgeous! The 2nd. Annual Fashion Show was a huge success! We had a great turnout and the students did a fabulous job with their designs for Fall 2013! The theme was The Modernist, a collection for woman & girls who appreciate anything "fashion forward and Edgy." The students used wonderful fabrics in their designs such as velvet, ponte knit, silk chiffon, leather and printed fabrics they created.
The young designers really had a blast modeling their very own creations on the runway and I was amazed as to how confident they were!
I look forward to summer 2013 as "fashion Camp" kicks in and ends with another fabulous fashion show!