Biography

Charles Brown was born and raised in Nashville, TN. He took a keen interest in fashion around the age of nine. “I remember in 4^th and 5^th grade, I started a play fashion conglomerate with my friends, with myself as the designer and I would give them these fake paychecks every week and we would have board meeting during recess. It was so much fun!”

But it wasn’t until high school that he decided to make fashion his career. “I designed consistently as a hobby from about 10 years old and I would always say I wanted to be a designer when I grew up, but I didn’t really realize that someone could go to school and study fashion and actually be a designer until my freshman or sophomore year of high school. Once I had that realization, that was it and I determined to be a designer professionally.”

From that point on, Charles devoured every morsel of information he could ascertain about fashion. He spent his days and nights in the library and on the internet learning about fashion history, design, fabrics, fashion business practices and current trends in the industry. “ Other than going to school and to church, I did nothing but think about fashion…honestly, I thought about it while I was in class and church service! I checked out every book the public library had on fashion and fashion related topics. I watched every fashion show on television and online. I read the biographies on all the great past and present designers. I spent hours in the fabric store getting samples and learning the names and textures of different materials. It was a magnificent obsession. It still is!”

After high school, Charles moved to Atlanta and entered the Fashion Design and Marketing program at American Intercontinental University, where he excelled in all his classes. “ I loved it. I never thought school could be so fun. I was finally able to focus my creativity into something that paid off in the form of grades. The thing I enjoyed most was being able to hang out with people who shared my interests and could relate to my feelings and just really got it! I chose AIU because at that time is was the closest school that offered a dual major of design and marketing, which was very important to me because I always knew the importance of and was fascinated by the business side of the industry. And before I ever drew my first rough fashion sketch, I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur, thus my several imaginary, elementary school industries!” Charles also studied at O’More College of Design in Franklin, TN. “O’More has, as AIU had when I started there, that intimate, artistic vibe that encourages and stimulates learning and creativity. Its an incredible feeling and a fantastic environment to learn the basics of fashion design and marketing, but more importantly, to get to know oneself as an adult and as a creative individual.”

Charles returned home from Atlanta to be near his family and to fulfill his destiny. “They say there’s no place like home, and there is no place for me like Nashville. Before going away to school I didn’t completely appreciate how wonderful a place Nashville was in so many ways, but after living in Atlanta and spending time in New York and Miami, it became more and more clear that Nashville was where I was supposed to be. Not just because of my family ties, but also because of the unique opportunities that Nashville has to offer and the wealth of fashion potential that is here. Now we have Nashville Fashion Group that does a superb job of progressing and promoting the fashion industry in Nashville, bringing together all the different elements of the fashion process, revealing the hidden treasure of creative, financial, and technical resources that are in the community, furthermore making Nashville a very hospitable place to do business. All I can say is that I have major plans for myself and for this great city, and I fully intend to do my part in putting us both on the fashion map in a dynamic way! My heart is in Nashville and I look forward to spending many, many years giving back to the city that has so bountifully given unto me.”