|
Meggie Palma |
Her mother reluctantly gave in but on the condition that she learns how to sew. So she got her first sewing machine and every week, she was given a box of materials to practice on.
"Soon enough I was making everything from curtains to pillow cases and eventually started creating my own idea of high fashion couture clothing straight from my dreams," Palma says.
Last month, the little girl who "lived those months in solitude; accompanied by my imagination, my material and my sewing machine" broke out into the world of high fashion.
A Meggie Palma creation
Nine of Palma’s collections were among those showcased at the prestigious Vancouver Fashion Week held at the Empire Landmark Hotel on April 22, with critics immediately taking notice. One of her creations – an elegant halter top over a print wrap skirt – was eventually featured in the Straight.
"I’ve never been part of a fashion show. It’s all an inspiring event," the self-taught Palma says.
Palma describes her creations as eclectic, colourful, stylish, sexy, a little provocative. "It’s culture fusion. I take one look at one culture, mix it up with another and add my own imagination," she says.
Palma says growing up in multi-racial North America was one of the greatest gifts she had.
Born to a Jamaican father and a Filipino mother, she spent her early childhood in Vancouver. At the age of seven, she and her family moved to California in her mother’s bid to "recapture life’s adventure."
"For ten years we enjoyed the beautiful beaches, and of c
ourse coming form a Philippine background, we fit right in the Spanish culture that flourished and dominated the southern cities of California.
"Although I missed Vancouver’s rain, my family, and my Canada, I felt a strong connection with the warmth of the sunshine coast. It would be there that I learn the essence of my creativity," she says.
Palma credits the blossoming of her creativity to her own mother. Aside from encouraging her to sew, her mother also filled her days with piano lessons, classical music and B
Design by Meggie Palma
roadway musicals.
"I definitely credit my mother for every ounce of creativity that I have. I call her the original Martha Stewart- Asian style."
After ten years of the California breeze, Palma and her family moved back to Vancouver which she described as "my home."
"In a semi-rebellious act of not conforming to the Vancouver female dress code, I dusted away the cobwebs of my sewing machine, and created my signature closet. For the first time, people took notice of my talent, and I started to build a small clientele.
"I designed and sewed dresses for graduation events and the results were exciting.
Soon enough family and friends were enlisting my services and I basically turned into the local stylist," Palma recalls.
Among those who noticed the budding designer was Palma’s former high school classmate Izabella Steele, then a candidate for Miss Universe Canada 2006. Steele wore Palma’s creations in the contest.
"I eventually met Jamal Abdouraham, who gave me the opportunity to showcase my talent in my first fashion show, Vancouver Fashion Week. The experience was incredible."
Abdouraham is the publisher of Vancouver Fashion Magazine and produces the Vancouver International Fashion Week each spring.
"The media, the people, the aura of the atmosphere, it was all too addictive to a little girl with a dream. At this point in my life, I have learned to harness my creativity, and use it to stylize the world one person and one place at a time.
"My goal is to learn the world, and leave a part of me everywhere I go," Palma says.
