Fashion Forward

Ella Pritsker followed an unconventional path to become host of a prominent fashion show in Baltimore.

By Kevin Woo, One+ | June 3, 2013

Ella Pritsker was a single mother when she arrived in the U.S. She didn’t speak English, she didn’t have a job and she was poor. Her road to a career in fashion design was different from most.

Pritsker grew up in the Soviet Union, which hardly competes with Paris, London or New York for cutting-edge fashionistas. But circumstances didn’t discourage Pritsker. Her inspiration for beautiful and intricately made clothing came from the most unlikely of sources—Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace.

She says the way Tolstoy described the gowns and clothing fed her imagination: “I could see his descriptions in my mind’s eye of what the clothing looked like.”

Pritsker emigrated to the U.S. in 1989 via Austria and Italy. While traveling through Europe she met three “old world” dressmakers who became the first of many partners she would make through her career. It was the dressmakers who introduced her to the art of couture design. After this chance introduction, she knew she wanted to design handmade, high-end, made-to-order clothing.

Since her arrival in the U.S., Pritsker has worked as a solo couturier, created her own line of couture clothing called Ella Moda, founded both the Academy of Custom Couture and Design and the Maryland Center for Fashion Design, started an internship program with City Neighbors Charter High School, created philanthropic relationships in the Baltimore area and helped create a fashion design program at Stevenson University. She also plays host to an annual fashion gala that showcases the work of her students to the who’s who of Baltimore. Yes, her resumé is nearly as long as War and Peace.

Of all of her accomplishments, the annual fashion shows draw the most attention. Pritsker says planning the shows start off modestly—she and her students collaborate to pick a theme and then begin sketching out the look and feel for the show.

“In 2010, for example, we got together and talked about Tim Burton’s movie, Alice in Wonderland, and how everyone loved it,” Pritsker said. “As we were thinking about the movie, we all looked at the clothes we were making. The clothes were whimsical and had that Alice in Wonderland feel to them. We realized that all we had to do was make some minor alterations to what we were already working on and we were all set (for a fashion show).”

Creating the Look and Feel

Once Pritsker and her students select a theme for the fashion show, she and her graphics designer, Georganne Cammarata, get to work. Together, the two start thinking about the nuts and bolts for marketing the event, marketing deliverables, a look and feel for the deliverables and a production schedule. They begin this planning process a year in advance.

“Ella puts on these shows to highlight her students and their talents,” Cammarata said. “The shows are for her students to showcase their couture skills and their beautiful creations, so how we market the event matters. We have to be equally elegant and creative with our deliverables—emails, printed materials, handouts, the Web design and staging. Ella and I have to make sure everything is consistent.”

Each year Pritsker and Cammarata push themselves to come up with new ways to promote the students’ work and help launch new careers. Last year, the pair came up with the idea of handing every attendee a card featuring contact information for the designers, in case someone in the audience might want to order a garment.

“Ella made sure that her student-designers got the recognition that they deserved because they put a lot of time into making the event work,” Cammarata said.

Giving Back

Pritsker and her students donate some of the gala proceeds to local charities, and she follows the same philosophy of developing long-term relationships when she evaluates charities. Before creating a partnership, she wants to be sure that a donation of money and/or time will make a significant difference in people’s lives.

When she arrived in the U.S., the only thing Pritsker had were sewing skills—the skill of being a dressmaker, designer, tailor or seamstress—whatever the client needed.

“Sewing was the only thing I had and it got me through the toughest times of my life,” she said. “I was able to make a living and sustain my little family.”

To kick-start her couture business, Pritsker marketed herself to every customer she had done business with and convinced them to buy high-end, handmade couture clothing. She made her customers her partners.

“They didn’t ‘need’ the clothes, the world is full of clothes, but I established a relationship with every person,” she said. “I wanted to make sure I was helpful, that I had a rapport and a relationship where I was very close. I wanted to make a long-term relationship with everybody.”

In 2010, the academy took its first big step on the public stage and presented the “Through the Looking Glass” (inspired by Alice in Wonderland) fashion show. The show’s charitable beneficiary was The House of Ruth, a safe house for women who are the victims of domestic violence.

Pritsker and her students also gave the residents of The House of Ruth an even bigger gift—hands-on sewing lessons, a skill to help them find work when they leave the facility.

“The House of Ruth happens to be a cause that is very close to my heart,” said Pritsker, herself a victim of an abusive relationship.

The 2011 event was titled “Rising Stars,” with proceeds going to the Nataline Sarkisyan Foundation, created in memory of Nataline Sarkisyan, who was denied a liver transplant by her insurance company and died at the age of 17. Nataline’s career ambition was to be a fashion designer, and the proceeds from the fashion show helped establish scholarships for high school seniors interested in pursuing careers in fashion, medicine or culinary arts.

“I believe that fashion and philanthropy go well together,” Pritsker said. “One of the reasons why I partner with charitable organizations is because fashion always has the opportunity to bring awareness to an issue or a cause.”

Critical Acclaim

For the past three years, Sloane Brown, a society writer for The Baltimore Sun, has served as the emcee for Pritsker’s events. Brown says Pritsker’s events are unique because she and her students are showcasing one-of-a-kind creations and not established fashions that you can find in department stores.

“Ella’s events show local expertise on a level that you might see in New York or Los Angeles,” she said. “Her events show old-world skill and techniques that we don’t see very often.”

Brown adds that the Maryland Center of Fashion Design events have another major difference from other fashion shows: there’s a theme and they tell a story.

“Everything from the way the collateral is developed to the staging to the clothes on display—everything an attendee sees—is part of the overall story,” Brown said. “At one point, Baltimore was the heart of the garment industry in U.S. fashion, and making clothes is part of our history.”

Pritsker learned early that her best chance to succeed in life was to create teams, engage with those who are experts in their field and give back to those who need help. She does that for each of her endeavors. And once in a while she looks to Tolstoy for a little creative inspiration. One+