Born and raised in Washington DC, Imani Damali is president and head designer of Imani Damali, LLC - a women’s clothing line specializing in funky, urban-chic wear now in its 9th year of business. Imani is also a stylist; the resident fashion consultant for www.DistrictHustle.com, blogger & hostess of her web series – Fashion ID Moment with Imani Damali.

After graduating from Morgan State University with honors and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Graphic Design, Imani worked as an intern for her mentor & skilled tailor Abdul Kareem. It was from him that she learned the basic skills necessary for any seamstress to function – the basics of sewing and patternmaking, customer service, timeliness & communication.

Ms. Damali credits the most challenging and fulfilling educational experience of her life to Parsons School of Design in New York City, which she attended to further her knowledge of clothing construction & the fashion industry as a whole. She entered the Associate’s Degree fashion program in 1998 and was able to complete the challenging two year program in a year’s time, graduating in the summer of ‘99. While there, she was awarded the chance to present her work in the annual Associate’s Exhibit. That was her first opportunity to show her clothing to the public – it was quite exciting! She was hooked. Parson’s taught her the advanced technical and creative skills needed to proceed into the world of fashion.

Impressed by Imani’s skills and zest for knowledge, she was offered an internship by Luis Liberatto Miranda. Besides being one of her instructors from Parsons, Luis worked for renowned designer for the stars, Bob Mackie.

Imani was later called upon by Luis to fill the position of Assistant Designer at his new post, Damianou Sportswear, where she supported him as he designed their new line Nitsa. Here, she was allowed the unique opportunity to interface with both the design and production facets of the industry –the company manufactured their line on location. She watched, learned, asked many questions and took notes.

After her departure from Damianou, financed by savings and family investments, Ms. Damali struck out on her own. In the Spring of 2001, she premiered her self-titled clothing line, ImaniDamali, , “Imani – Faith / Damali – Beautiful Vision”. Initially, she sold both retail and wholesale to boutiques in Washington, Maryland and New Jersey. However, because she was doing all of her own production – working on a shoestring budget, wearing many hats – Imani began offering her line to a primarily retail clientele.

In 1994, fueled by a small but efficient staff, Imani Damali llc began to expand its focus. Its products and services are currently available to the public at the official ImaniDamali website, www.imanidamali.com, and at its ImaniDamali Showroom in Washington, DC, by appointment only. There are also developing plans to manufacture in Ghana, West Africa, making steps toward one of the company’s goals of vertical growth, owning everything from the textile plant to the retail stores.

Most recently, Ms. Damali also began styling various artists & government officials. She served as wardrobe consultant for the movie Decisions (directed by Karen Wiggins) & was head of wardrobe for the forthcoming independent series (directed by Howard G. Brown) Dark City. Never one to bite her tongue, Ms. Imani is now the official blogger & fashion aficionado of www.districthustle.com. So stay tuned, things are just heating up!

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