Adjunct professor Carl Winston Smith held the grand opening for his new tailoring shop on Monday, Oct. 28. The business, located in Fleming Plaza, will allow Smith to be more accessible to those on campus who may need alteration services, as well as to students in his fashion design course.
“I love it,” Smith said. “To me, it’s a blessing being here. I just love the area. I could have been here about a year ago, but not until God said so.”
Smith is a bespoke tailor. Bespoke is a fastidious type of tailoring that involves designing wardrobe ensembles to a buyer’s exact size and specifications. He was dubbed as a “Tailor to the Stars” in 1987, according to an article in the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
Smith said that he was first apprehensive about his transition to Collegedale, but after complications with rent at his original Lee Highway location in Chattanooga, he embraced the move that would bring him closer not only to students, but to his wife, Rachel Williams-Smith, dean of the School of Journalism and Communication at Southern.
The grand opening, planned by Williams-Smith, featured a ribbon cutting and an official blessing by Pastor Troy Brand of Orchard Park Seventh-day Adventist Church. Susan Bentley, whose most recently commissioned piece from Smith was showcased during the event, shared her comments as did Bob Young, Southern’s vice president of academic administration.
“He is the master,” Bentley said. “He is the only one I know who can take ideas out of my brain and transform them into the real world.”
