De' Alexander, Quinton

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Quinton de' Alexander

19(?)–

Fashion designer, philanthropist

Fashion designer Quinton de' Alexander knew from a young age that he was a singular individual. When he was only eight years old, he gave away the train set his parents had been sure he would love and begged his father to buy him a sewing machine he found at a garage sale. With persistence, de' Alexander taught himself to sew on that machine, and after a short time was earning money by selling the clothing he designed. Influenced by his father's style and dedication to his community, de' Alexander developed a grace and elegance not only in the clothes he made, but also in his own sense of style and presentation. His personal flair, combined with almost inexhaustible energy, would enable him to succeed in a very competitive business and inspire him to use that success to support a huge variety of charitable causes.

De' Alexander was born in the culturally rich city of New Orleans, Louisiana, and grew up near Bourbon Street in the heart of that city's bustling French Quarter. His father, William, worked for the city's sanitation department and his mother, Yvonne, cooked in a restaurant. Even with both parents working hard, the family sometimes ran short of money. To help out, de' Alexander and his brothers spent many happy hours fishing to bring catfish home for dinner.

Growing up in New Orleans, de' Alexander was captivated by the festive atmosphere of Mardi Gras and the many parades and shows for which the city was famous. He grew to love the beautiful clothes and the glamour of the spectacle. He was also influenced by his father, who took his role as a city employee seriously. Along with working at his job, William de' Alexander also took a leadership role in his church and worked as a precinct captain to help with elections. He was also always stylishly dressed, and de' Alexander admired his father's sharp fashion sense. He began to believe that by dressing elegantly and carrying himself with dignity he could rise above the racism he saw around him.

De' Alexander loved nice clothes, and unlike most children he knew, he much preferred a nice suit to a new toy as a gift. He soon began to feel that he could make beautiful clothes himself. When he was eight years old, he found a sewing machine for sale at a garage sale and persuaded his father to buy it for him. Though his father at first tried to persuade him that boys did not sew, he eventually gave in, and young Quinton took his sewing machine home and began to teach himself to sew and design. His first project was making potholders and curtains for his mother's kitchen. By the time he was fourteen, he was not only designing and sewing his own clothes, but making money selling his creations for both men and women.

While developing his design career, de' Alexander also enjoyed his school years. He was tall and athletic and excelled in football, basketball, and track. He also participated in school theatrical productions where his talent and stage presence often earned him leading roles. At the age of seventeen he wrote, produced, choreographed, and designed the costumes for his own musical revue called, Oh, What a Night, highlighting songs from currently popular shows like Fame and Dream Girls. That same year, he also staged his first fashion show at the prestigious New Orleans Country Club.

When de' Alexander was still a boy, his parents had divorced and his father had moved to Chicago. By the time he was in high school, de' Alexander was a regular visitor to the Midwestern metropolis, both to visit his father and to attend fashion conventions and shows. He finished his high school education by graduating from Chicago's Cabrini/Hales Franciscan Alternative High School.

While the carnivals of New Orleans had been a good place to begin his fashion career, de' Alexander felt that he would need to move to a larger city to develop his career. He showed his designs at fashion conventions, where boutique owners and designers alike were impressed with his dramatic and sophisticated clothing. De' Alexander soon settled permanently in Chicago and began to sell his designs through the city's upscale clothing stores, establishing his own design house, Chez de' Alexander, in 1987.

Within a few years, de' Alexander had become one of the nation's top fashion designers, hosting regular black-tie, or formal dress, fashion shows so elaborate that they were often described as "extravaganzas." Usually held in exclusive Chicago venues such as the DuSable Museum of African History, de' Alexander's fashion shows frequently have dramatic themes, such as his 2000 show which was a pageant of Biblical history. For many years, de' Alexander has been a featured designer in the famous Ebony Fashion Fair, a cross-country African American fashion show sponsored in cities throughout the United States by Ebony magazine since 1958.

Though the world of high fashion traditionally favored the young, thin, and wealthy, de' Alexander did not design his clothing for such a limited audience. He took pride in creating "nice clothes everybody can wear," as he explained to CBB. His elegant gowns and suits were as flattering to older and larger people as to tall, thin runway models.

Although the cost of de' Alexander's original designs made them generally available only to those in the upper class, he took care to honor his own working-class roots by involving himself in his community. A generous philanthropist in the Chicago area, de' Alexander has raised money for a wide variety of causes, such as the Lupus Foundation, La Rabida Children's Hospital and Child Abuse Center, and the DuSable Museum. But de' Alexander gave much more than money to the organizations closest to his heart. He served on the board of directors of Concerned Citizens Inc./Mothers House, an organization that supports single mothers, and devoted time and energy to other organizations for at-risk parents, such as the Illinois Department of Human Services (Teen Parent Services-Central) and Real Fathers Real Men.

De' Alexander combined fashion and philanthropy in inventive ways. He regularly offered free seats at his exclusive fashion shows to those who could not otherwise afford to attend. To bring some glamour and fun into the lives of young single mothers, he arranged "spa days" with makeovers and modeling lessons, presenting a designer prom dress to the teen mom with the best grades. He created similar programs for older people, building self-esteem in those whom society often ignores by staging fashion shows where seniors model designer originals.

Another side of de' Alexander's community work was inspired by his own solitary struggle to learn the skills he needed to succeed in the field of fashion design. Through an organization he founded called Creativity United, Inc., de' Alexander helped aspiring artists to gain a foothold in all facets of the design industry. Creativity United also hosted the Midwest Fashion and Beauty Designer Awards, an annual event recognizing the achievements of both established and beginning designers.

In spite of his success, de' Alexander has continued to run his design business in a very personal way. He operated his house of design, Chez de' Alexander, out of his former residence in Chicago. Along with his demanding work schedule and his tireless charitable work, de' Alexander has kept alive his love of the theater. Twice a year he and his partner Ellis Foster staged musical shows for which de' Alexander frequently designed the choreography, costumes and sets. In his free time, de' Alexander enjoyed collecting antiques and continued to sew all of his own clothes.

Sources

Periodicals

Chicago Defender, April 3, 1999, p. 21; October 26, 2000, p. 13; November 11, 2000, p. 17; December 2, 2000, p. 18; May 19, 2001, p. 21; October 18, 2001, p. 15; April 15, 2004, p. 9.

Ebony, February 2005, pp. 137-40.

Jet, October 23, 2000. pp. 12-18; October 1, 2001, pp. 32-9.