How Melissa Moses Is Inspiring The Next Generation Of Fashion Designers

With this many accolades, Melissa Moses’ luminosity is evident in the local fashion industry. She was a top 10 finalist in season six of Mission Catwalk, second place finisher in the 2017 Saints International Avant-Garde competition and a past student and teacher at the HEART NSTA Garmex Academy.

From an early age, Kingston-born Melissa has always been immersed in fashion. From sketch­ing in high school to attending university for ar­chitecture, the talent was undoubted. It would not be long before she enrolled at the HEART Garmex Academy as if the biggest pivot of her life was predestined.

As a fashion designer, Melissa’s biggest influ­ence is music. She spoke about her collections and the music that inspired them. The confi­dence she exudes is infectious, and it shows throughout her work. During the start of the 2020 pandemic, through her skills training at HEART, she produced her most successful ac­cessory collection to date – her bag collection. Motivated by a gap in the local market, her skills training, and the energy from her favourite electric MEDUZA soundtrack, Melissa’s collec­tion increased her profits by 60%. Her collection has garnered the interest of some of Jamaica’s most popular personalities, Lisa Hannah and Dr Michelle Charles, to name a few.

If Melissa has taught us one thing, it’s that pivoting is sometimes necessary and to never be intimidated by change. It’s impossible not to leave inspired, so when asked her advice for upcoming designers, it was to simply “go for it”. There’s still so much to be accomplished on the local fashion scene, but with the skills provided by HEART, the sky is the limit – at least that’s what Melissa taught us.