Melanie Parker is a woman composed of many layers but with a singular vision, which is: to bring the colorful fruit of her lived passions into the world. Coming of age, surrounded by women for whom style was as important as air—and having a mother who achieved it without effort and embodied it without fail—Melanie understood the transformative power of women’s fashion. Even as a very young child, mesmerized by the magical montage in Mahogany, as Tracey Chambers (Diana Ross) ascends to the heights of super-modeldom, Melanie understood—as did Ross’ iconic character—that the clothes, themselves, were the real stars and the designer, the master who gave them light. Those four minutes stuck with Melanie and attended her during playtime as she deconstructed and reassembled her dolls’ clothes, displayed her budding creativity through her “fashion plates'” designs, and reimagined old nightgowns to become the glamorous home-stage costumes they were meant to be. And even after earning degrees in English Communication, Business, and Psychology, as well as starting and leading a successful communications firm, she would still relive the thrill of those four minutes as the bold and liberating designs from the likes of Valdes to Valentino to Givenchy to McQueen to Gurung informed her style and inspired her creativity. However, it would be after the tragic loss of her more-brother-than-cousin (and best friend) Michael, a celebrated artist in his own right, that Melanie would purchase a sketchbook of her own and—following his example—surrender to the visions waiting to be realized. With pencil in hand, her healing and replenishment began. So, at home and at ease visualizing and planning her hours away, Melanie likens her process to a form of meditation, recalling divinely-inspired forms and silhouettes visited upon her in dreams . . . to transfer onto the pad . . . to bring into the world.