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The funeral services took place at the beginning of this month for fashion designer Charlene Hyman, who counted the Grammy winner Patti Lable and Grace Jones.
The 68 -year -old Hyman died peacefully on June 20 in Baltimore and, according to her 40 -year -old girlfriend and fashion designer Carlous Palmer, recovered from some health problems.
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The designer born in Baltimore built her career in her hometown and founded her company Hyman & Hyman Fashion Designer in 1970. She founded the business with her husband Harvey Sanford, and her son Darrus Hyman-Shanford continues to head the company, which focuses on customer-specific clothing for individual customers. Palmer remembered on Tuesday when they hit Hyman in the mid -1970s when she was in a local television show “Soul of the City”. Hyman danced on the show, designed costumes for performers and “somehow everything done,” said Palmer.
After graduating from the Frederick Douglass High School, she wrote down at the Baltimore City Community College. From 1976 to 1978 she studied fashion design and the history of the costume design in the then first two -year fashion program from Baltimore, according to Sally Dimarco, who at that time taught there and dated a family that led a fashion design school in Cefalù, Italy. “She was a fireball. She had this drive and passion that reminded me of me at this age because she would happen. And she did it,” said Dimarco.
Many may not know how Baltimore once second in New York City War. As a student, Hyman was a member of the Fashion Design Club and traveled to New York to prompted the trips to present the students to the fashion industry. Hyman took part in the Black Designer Showcase of the Essence Magazine and was part of the Travel Fashion Fair from Ebony for several years. According to reports, she was in the Black Caucus Show Congressional Black Caucus, the Canadian greeting to Black Fashion Designer, the Baltimore International Women’s Show and numerous Trais Winkey Productions. In 1992 she exceeded 400 other competitors to win a design competition that led to a trip to Paris and was presented on an international platform.
Hyman’s skills extended beyond sewing to knit, crochet, sample production, draping, sketching, pearls and painting. According to Palmer, she had an understanding of the amount of work that is needed to be successful in fashion. “Many people don’t – they think it’s this funny, cool thing that people do. It’s a serious business. I know that many people don’t take it seriously. Unfortunately, here in Baltimore some people have no respect for this business,” he said.
Unlike in France, where the government supported the fashion industry from the government and recognize the civil servants that fashion is an important industry that is not comparable in the US [in her lifetime.] In addition, artists are often not valued until they are gone. “
In a proclamation that Hyman’s family was handed over by Hyman, the mayor of Baltimore, Brandon M. Scott, described her as a beloved resident and fashion trail blazer. “Charlene Hyman was the first fashion design at the Baltimore City College and became known in the fashion industry as a creative force in Baltimore and beyond,” said the proclamation.
Her designs were presented in NBCS “The Today Show”, ABCS “Good Morning America” and on the pages of the People Magazine. Her own unofficial wardrobe consisted of leggings with an oversized, colorful caftan. Although Hyman worked with prominent customers, this was not a topic of conversation with Palmer. “We spoke more about our dissatisfaction about the policy of fashion in Baltimore and creative things. In addition, she was more of a spiritual consultant,” said Palmer, adding that young artists need guidance to understand the career paths where they imagine and “manage their gifts”.
In addition to her son, Hyman is survived by her siblings, whose names were not immediately known.
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