July 2025: A Summer of Youth Programming in the Heart of the French Quarter

3... 2... 1... BURGUNDY!

What a big summer this has been for ricRACK! Have you heard about our move? After several happy years on MLK, we have moved to 321 Burgundy St in the French Quarter!

A bouquet of lilies, a welcome gift from one of ricRACK's supporters

Downtown, here we come! We have loved engaging the creative community in our new neighborhood, and we'll keep you posted on all of the fun happenings in this new space!

Slow Fashion

Throughout June, we hosted a month-long fire sale to celebrate our last weeks in Central City. Meanwhile, only a few days into our new lease, on June 9 we began our Slow Fashion class at our new space in the French Quarter.

Notice Co-Teacher and Youth Lead Iz Eagles guiding students as they lay out patterns on an unfinished cutting table, meanwhile a parent/volunteer works on a ladder in the background...

Inspired by the class that led up to our first ever Fashion Show, this course taught fifteen high school students the ins and outs of the fashion industry. The students explored the industry from a professional and practical standpoint. With visits from local professionals and weekly lectures on the environmental impacts of the fashion industry, the students were challenged to envision a more sustainable future. They learned the entire design process, first creating mood boards and attending instructive workshops, then drafting their designs (through sketches and mockups). Finally, they set off to work on their pieces that they will eventually show at ricRACK's second ever Fashion Show.

Our students made use of our new studio just days into our new lease

Slow Fashion has been a remarkable achievement for ricRACK. An entirely free 8-week long class, this course included 160 hours of classroom time, plus bi-weekly field trips to local museums, cultural spaces, and design studios.

Karasi Carr joined us as a teaching assistant, thanks to the Mayor's Summer Youth Employment Program. We were so grateful for her help. Here, she strikes a pose at Carl Mack's Mardi Gras Museum. One of our new neighbors, Carl Mack graciously opened the doors of the Museum to our students for a field trip.

Thank you for bringing Slow Fashion to life...

We have so many people to thank for making Slow Fashion a reality. First, we would like to thank the Mayor's Office for Youth & Families. Not only did they administer the Bloomberg Mayor's Youth Climate Action Grant that made this class possible, but they assigned an incredible young person, Karasi Carr, to ricRACK to help assist with the class through the Mayor's Summer Youth Employment Program. This partnership and their generous support has made it possible to offer the first ever Slow Fashion class to the City's youth. Thank you for helping us to teach these meaningful skills to these aspiring designers and developing sewists! And thank you for supporting young people in developing career skills through MSYEP!

We would also like to express our deepest gratitude to Home Bank for further supporting this initiative with an incredibly generous donation. Support from community partners like Home Bank makes it possible for teens to explore the creative industries all summer long, entirely free of charge. Home Bank's support really has made this possible.

Next, we have to give a round of applause and our most sincere thanks to the Youth Leads behind the Bloomberg Youth Climate Action grant! Youth leads Iz Eagles, Izumi Cromwell, and Hudson Turnbough spearheaded the development of this program under the supervision of designer and teacher Lorenza De la Puente. Lorenza and Iz served as instructor and co-instructor, respectively, for the course, and Izumi and Hudson served as peer mentors for the other students in the class. For this class to have originated in the minds of the young people involved in the program makes it even more impressive and exciting.

Because Slow Fashion had such incredible leadership and talent from teachers Lorenza & Iz, peer-mentors Hudson and Izumi, and teacher's assistant Karasi Carr, we were able to offer this course to more teens than we have ever had in studio for this length of time.

Youth Force NOLA

Kam'rin Martin (left) and Taliyah Matthews (right) spent the summer with us and made our move possible

You didn't think that was the end of our youth programming this summer, did you? Absolutely not! We were delighted to partner with Youth Force NOLA who placed two incredible interns, Taliyah "T" Matthews and Kam'rin Martin, at ricRACK for the summer. Without their support, we really do not know how we could have gotten through this move. T & Kam'rin took professional development courses throughout the beginning of the summer and interned with us in the second half. We don't have any doubts that they will both go on to do incredible things. We will be forever grateful to these two funny, spirited, and hard-working young people for their tireless support of what we do at ricRACK!

What's Next?

In the storefront, we'll be celebrating all of the fun events coming up Downtown, like the Red Dress Run & Southern Decadence.

As for the teens, we'll start helping them prepare for the Fashion Show on September 27 at the New Orleans Jazz Museum where they will show their work alongside that of professional designers! Stay tuned for more...