by Grayling Holmes

What began as just another event of many that I routinely attend for the magazine ended up as anything but routine. It ended up being an evening of unexpected surprises and touching moments all because of the laser-focused vision of one woman for the past decade, the one, the only, Susan Sherman.

For ten years, Susan Sherman has led the charge to resurrect the glorious past of the St. Louis fashion industry and take it back to its former glory. She is on a crusade to reclaim a significant stake that the Gateway City once had in America’s multi-billion-dollar industry. “What once was could be the future of the fashion industry again,” exclaims Susan. “And with the help of my team at the Saint Louis Fashion Fund and the stalwart entrepreneurs, both large and small, a Renaissance is underfoot to, one step at a time, build on its glorious past in the fashion industry.”

The evening at Saks spotlighted the Fund’s mission to serve as the leading voice and advocate for more than 800 fashion-related businesses and supports students, designers and both emerging and established brands who generate fashion’s $7.7 billion annually to the St. Louis region. But from the time I walked past the columns at the entrance to one of the anchors of the posh mall, and down the escalator to its gallery level, I was in for more than a stylish event, which is Susan’s trademark, I was in for an evening that touched my heart, and those of the gathered throng.

The event was the conclusion of the Saint Louis Fashion Fund’s year-long 10th Anniversary Celebration. The campaign dubbed, “10 for the 10th" was peppered with events ranging from a men’s runway fashion show at St. Louis CITYPARK presented by GENT, to a star-studded day where Susan and the Fund unveiled a street sign in honor of supermodel and St. Louis native Karlie Kloss, bookended by “Speaking of Fashion” with fabled fashion designer Michael Kors, to “Threads,” a fashion runway event produced by the Missouri History Museum to benefit the Fund. All year long, it was BAM! BAM! BAM! Hammer home the fact the St. Louis generates more than 3-billion dollars annually to the St. Louis economy, and 7.7 to the region. Susan leads the charge to make sure that not only the region, but the world is taking notice. “I’m bound and determined to put St. Louis on the map again, but it takes a village, and the troops have rallied with the Fashion Fund big time,” she said.

When talking about fashion in St. Louis, oftentimes, Susan rattles off the names of designers, influencers, and companies who have made their mark and have each helped rebuild the fashion industry here — Artemas Quibble, AUDRA , Lux & Nix, Tufts and Batson, Paulie Gibson, Beltshazzar Jewels, Brandin Vaughn, Yoshi Dafney, Summersalt, The Normal Brand, Rungolee, and Profield Reserve, to name a few.

As soon as I entered the gallery at Saks, my constant companion at such events, Mary Wimbley and I, were greeted by PR Maven Joan Berkman. She has been Susan’s “right hand” in producing ten of the ten of the anniversary events this year. Joan introduced us to Jessie Davidson, Brand Experience Manager for Saks Fifth Avenue, who was heading up the launch of the “Unexpected Luxury” trunk show from Saks. The show raised funds for the Fund (pun intended) that night and throughout the weekend.

Meandering from the gallery into the showroom, Mary and I saw many familiar faces. Among them, Kelly Bagwe looking resplendent as always in a scarlet tuxedo mini dress worn over a top dotted with actual Christmas bows; black leggings accentuated the professional model’s statuesque limbs. Kelly was chatting with Fox 2’s TV anchor Jasmine Huda who was wearing a chic black jumpsuit covered head to toe in eye-popping fluorescent pink and orange polka dots. Throughout the Fund’s 10 for the Tenth, Jasmine has emceed several events, most notably for the Threads event at the Missouri History Museum last spring.

Everywhere Mary and I looked was fashion, fashion, and more fashion. In the middle of the room was famed Million Dollar Listings Man, Ted Wight, wearing a stylish Noble Custom Clothing wool, windowpane blazer and conversing with local fashion designer Oskar Stine who was perusing luxury purses at the trunk show. Oskar quipped that “This one is a mere $26,000. Oh, and look, it has a baby purse inside; it’s only 15.” He let me snap pics of him and his friend, and Ted with their mutual find. When asked about Fashion Fund, Ted remarked, “The 10 year celebration was a triumph with important events all year, all reinforcing that the Fashion Fund is a strong force, fun and fashionable.”

Next, I ran into Hearth & Soul owner Susie Bush-Transou, whom Mary and I had been with 24-hours earlier at her “Frosted Affair” Holiday Party at her tony Ladue shop. She was dressed in stylish denim bell bottoms that contrasted nicely with her sophisticated satin top and what looked like a Versace bomber jacket straight off the Paris runway.

Around the corner I noticed that my bestie, Mary, was chatting with a young man sitting alone at a table. When later I asked Mary, “Who was that young man?” she said “Oh, he said he was Susan’s son Keil and that he was so proud of her.” Having just seen Susie Bush-Transou, I mistakenly assumed that he was referring to her.

During “Act II” of the final 10 for the 10th event, everything would come full circle. Joan Berkman directed everyone to the Saks gallery and we all surrounded the podium where Saks’ Jessie Davidson gave brief remarks of welcome and then introduced Susan. She thanked everyone for coming and clicked off the nine of the ten events the Fund had conducted during the past year. She then ticked off a list of thank yous to the many sponsors who had made the year possible… Caleres, Wash U, Lewis Rice, Edward Jones, US Bancorp, Greater St. Louis Inc., Fox 2, and Fashion Group International among them. Applause! Applause! was heard throughout the gallery. She went on talk about how the 10 for the 10th was not just a series of parties, fashion shows, and events. Rather it was a year-long campaign to spotlight and position St. Louis’ fashion industry’s current and future of program of work as educators, collaborators, and connectors that are and will continue to make a major impact on our region’s economic ecosystem.

She then took a breath and said that this was a peek back at the past 12 months. “Roll tape,” she said in characteristic Susan fashion. Again, pun intended. To our delight, the tape not only took a look back at anniversary events, with faces of Michael Kors, Karlie Kloss and others, but up popped Diane von Furstenberg and Andre Leon Tally, who made their footprint on the Fund during its early days. It was a full retrospective.

Susan and Joan then gave out awards to Jasmine Huda and others for their contributions to the Fund to celebrate and honor the past decade. Finally, or so we thought, Joan and Susan directed us stage right, where they unveiled a black lacquered gift box with pink ribbon. Inside were tasteful tees from renowned artist Katherine Bernhardt’s “The Supers,” a limited edition series of 100 boxes, each containing three Supermodel t-shirts signed by the Katherine. The KB X SLFF boxes are on sale at the Fund’s website: saintlouisfashionfund.org/kb2024. Proceeds from the sale of the shirts will benefit the Fund.

Cell phones snapped pics. Channel 2 zoomed to close-up. And scene.

Susan began thanking everyone for attending. Joan interrupted, “Not so fast, we have one final announcement,” she said. Up on the screen went a pic of Susan, resplendent in a canary yellow designer wrap dress, perhaps a nod to the Fund’s Diane von Furstenberg ‘Speaking of Fashion’ event a few years back. Emblazoned next to her onscreen were the words “Susan Sherman Fashion Scholarship.” Her mouth dropped open in surprise for a full minute while Joan  explained that more than $37,500 had already been raised for the scholarship, which is earmarked for local students of fashion and design. In the 30+ years that I have known her, I’ve never seen Susan so surprised and touched. Fast cut to the audience. Cue the applause. We were all equally touched and proud of her.

When later asked about that moment, Susan told me, “I’m honored by the scholarship and especially the thought behind it. I (and members of the Fund) have mentored young fashion students and brands for over ten years – it is what brings me great joy.” She went on to say that, “The fact that the students must study fashion/design in Missouri is key, as we must continue to strive to keep young students here. We need them to continue to build St. Louis’ thriving fashion ecosystem. The scholarship in my name was a huge surprise and I am overwhelmed with gratitude.”

The night concluded with yet another emotional moment. This one brought a tear to my eye, because for that evening and the time that I had known Susan, things came full circle. On to the “stage” came Keil, accompanied by Oskar, both of whom, if you remember were in the Saks showroom earlier.

Keil held a belt in his hand and gave it to Susan, then began saying that “I made this for you, Mom.” It was then that my mouth dropped open for a full minute. As it turns out, Keil was not the other Susie’s son, rather Susan Sherman’s son. I remember Susan showing me photos of newborn Keil 28 years ago, when she and I both were publicizing such things as the ‘Legacy of Elma Rumsey Cartier’ and going into the vault at the old Mercantile Bank on Saint Louis University’s campus to look at the priceless Cartier jewelry heirlooms which she had bequeathed the university. It was Keil that she had just given birth to back then. It was Keil that I had met as a toddler. It was Keil that Mary had talked to an hour earlier in the Saks ‘Unexpected Luxury’ showroom. It was Keil who now captivated the audience by presenting his mother with a custom-made belt crafted by him during his internship at Artemas Quibble. Susan later explained that “I love Jason Ross, Artemas Quibble founder/designer, who moved here from New York during the pandemic. Oskar works at Artemas too. Keil is a grad from SCAD in Industrial Design. Joan and the Fund commissioned the belt for me, signed and dated by Jason, Oskar, and Keil. I’ve known Oskar since he was in high school and adore him and his family.” Again, full circle.

I later went up to Keil and asked if he knew that his mother and I had worked together at the big PR agency Shandwick and that I had met him as a baby. He simply said that he didn’t remember Shandwick. As I corralled Susan and Keil and others for a photo, I overheard her say to him that “I wish Daddy could have been here for this,” referring to her hubby David Sherman. How proud all of them would be of Susan and the vision Susan has made reality for a decade.

Susan’s love of fashion hearkens back to when she was a little girl. “I’m fascinated by how things are made. It started when I turned my ballet tutu upside down.” Who knew that the inversion of one frilly pink tutu – her idea of transformative fashion – would spark a lifelong love of the art form and spearhead a new age of fashion design in St. Louis. Susan’s trailblazing efforts have made a decisive impact, not only during the Fund’s past ten years, but is making an indelible imprint on the minds of future fashion industry trendsetters for many tens of years to come.

The rebirth of the storied glorious past in the multi-billion dollar fashion industry in St. Louis is now turning the page on a new story…things are starting to come full circle, thanks to Susan.

To donate to Susan’s Fashion Scholarship, managed by the Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis, just go to  sfstl.org/donate and put in the comment section that their donation is designated for The Susan Sherman Fashion Scholarship.

Other highlights from the unexpected evening