HARKER HEIGHTS, Texas — Central Texas fashion designer Dominique Simmons is already thinking ahead to prom season, with plans to hold a dress drive to help local high school students go to prom in style.
The inspiration for the event is a lifelong bond between brothers.
Simmons went to college to play football but soon switched his focus to fashion. It wasn't the path he had planned, but his family was supportive.
"The thing about it was my parents supported me the whole time," said Simmons. "My dad went out to Walmart the next day and bought me a sewing machine."
Simmons' handbags are made in Italy, and he has spent time there during his fashion career. Simmons dreamed of opening a fashion academy one day, but after a recent injury, that day is closer than he had planned.
"At the end of the day I want there to be a purpose behind this academy," Simmons said. "I've seen the power of educating somebody."
Instead of Simmons' own name on the building, it will open on what would have been his brother's birthday as the Marcus Simmons Fashion and Arts Academy.
"Yes, it's a big undertaking, but once you have a vision and you're motivated, that fire is still inside of me," Simmons said. "My love for my brother...that's what's keeping me going. I'm going to do this.".
Simmons always looked up to his older brother Marcus, who taught him how to persevere, even through pain. Marcus Simmons died in 2009 from Sickle Cell disease. Since then, his family has hosted events in his honor.
"And so I was like, how can I merge these two?" said Dominique Simmons. "So people can see what my academy is all about and they can use it as an inspiration for them to do something."
Simmons enjoys teaching the creative process and sharing the freedom he's found.
"I'm about to bless you with the official, sewing measuring tape. It's official now," Simmons said to 6 News Anchor Lindsay Liepman after giving her a crash course on sewing.
Before the doors open to the academy, Simmons is already at work with a campaign to get 100 prom dresses donated.
"God just gave me a vision to start a prom dress drive called 'A Dress and a Blessing'," said Simmons.
Simmons is gathering the dresses to give away in March 2024 at an event that will celebrate the girls who get the gowns, even including video messages from the dress donors to encourage the students.
"I started out, I was like 'Okay, 25 dresses. That should be good', but once I got 25, I was like, 'I think I can get a hundred. How awesome would that be,'" Simmons said.
For someone who gives back so much, Simmons got a recent gift too. Researchers announced a possible cure for sickle cell, the disease that claimed his brother's life.
"It's a lot of emotions. It's exciting. It's like the ones who passed away, they didn't pass away in vain. In some way, they contributed to this research. My brother, someone else's brother, they served a purpose in this fight," said Simmons.
The deadline to donate a dress is February. You can learn more by emailing Dominique Simmons at info@msfaa.com or checking out the 'A Dress and a Blessing' page on his website.
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