By Victoria Mejicanos
AFRO Intern
From selling food out of her family’s front yard to winning a contest selling AFRO newspapers, Jody Davis grew up with an entrepreneurial spirit. Eventually, she combined that with her passion for fashion and opened her own boutique, Jody Davis Designs.
Credit: Courtesy photo
A proud Baltimore native, she has most recently collaborated with the Baltimore Orioles to repurpose their iconic Birdland Hawaiian Shirt pattern. The new design has raised over $1,000 for the Baltimore Design School, according to Tessa Sayer, a spokesperson for the team.
Though her name is popular in the fashion world now, for Davis, the road to building a brand has not always been easy.
“I’ve built my brand from the ground up–blood, sweat and tears,” said Davis. “It took me seven years to realize that what I looked at as a hobby was actually my gift. I decided I wanted to go to school and study to get that degree.”
Davis applied to the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and was initially rejected because although she had been designing garments for years, she needed to improve her sketching. At the advice of the counselor who rejected her, she took draping and art classes both in Baltimore and New York. When she went back to the second interview a year later, she got the same counselor and was accepted.
“It’s a testament of what you can do if you’re determined to do so,” said Davis.
Even after graduating from the fashion institute, and wearing only clothes that she made, she still needed a push to start her own business. She has had her boutique in Baltimore for 15 years and has since gained thousands of loyal clients in Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia and across the nation. According to her website, “her clientele includes business owners, professional women, celebrities and media personalities who lead active lives as mothers, wives, elected officials, business and community leaders.”
Davis says her bright and functional designs come from God.
“I get inspired by fabrics,” the designer said. “If I buy a new pair of shoes that I love, I design a piece that goes well with the shoe. And I always start with me in mind. I design my collection with me in mind, and then it spills over to production and my client.”
Davis said her recent collaboration with the Orioles came from perfecting her craft. She said she initially thought it was a “prank” and a partnership she had never thought of as a possibility.
“They appreciate the quality of my work and recognize that I’ve done lots of things in the community,” said Davis. “They were looking to collaborate with someone local, and the rest is history.”
When it comes to advice for anyone who wants to start a business or an identified passion, Davis’ advice is simple: “Start right where you are, because if you wait till you have everything in line you would never start.”
