Something About Madona Cole-Lacy
I am the textile artist and designer of the Madona Cole Originals™ and the program director/facilitator of My Time Has Come™ programs. Under the Madona Cole Originals™ label, I design and create one-of-a-kind and limited edition wearable art fashions and accessories into which I incorporate my own unique fabric designs.
My surface design methods are a combination of techniques such as hand dyeing, painting, silk screening, tie-dyeing which I apply in my own exclusive manner. My handcrafted wearable art, is occasionally devoid of fabric or surface design when I choose to express my art through form or texture. I bring to Madona Cole Originals™ a world of diverse textile and fashion influences gained from cultural experiences and formal training in art and fashion design on the continents of Europe, Africa and North America. I incorporate into my designs, authentic handcrafted fabrics from various traditional sources as a way of celebrating cultural differences. Further evidence of this is seen in the ‘marriage’ between my wearable art business venture and my cultural arts program. As the facilitator of My Time Has Come ™programs, I conduct art-related cultural and social programs geared toward children, educators and families. My primary aim is to celebrate art as I create a forum for appreciation and celebration of cultural and social diversity with the long term goal being the eradication of the barrier of racial, ethnic, economic, cultural and social ignorance or complacency.
As an artist, I am particularly interested in providing fashionable solutions that address the emotional, social and health needs of all women and girls. Madona Cole Originals Dignity™ Headwear and accessories are items of wearable art that I design to bring comfort, flair and dignity to women and girls of all ethnic, social and religious backgrounds. They are also ideal for hat lovers who simply want to enhance their wardrobe, and for those who need help on ‘bad hair days’. Since Madona Cole Originals creations are synonymous with quality lifestyle, there is one to suit everyone’s lifestyle. They range from casual to upscale, and from ‘ simple elegance‘ to ornate.
WWhen it comes to addressing the fashion and emotional needs of women and girls looking to maintain their dignity in the face of chemotherapy treatment and alopecia, it is without question that there has been a woeful lack of user-friendly, functional and stylish head-coverings that are readily available to meet these needs. Indeed, there is an abundance of bandanas, baseball caps and scarves, all of which have their own merits; however, these options are not appropriate for all settings or even always easy to use. As this underserved segment of our society deals with their medical challenges, the desire to look and feel intact becomes a matter of necessity. With that in mind, I recently launched the Carolyn Series Turwrap™ and the Rinde´wrap™ as the ‘perfect solution’ component of my Madona Cole Originals Dignity Headwear ™Collection. The Swarovski crystal on each Carolyn Series Turwrap™ bought for or by someone who is going through chemotherapy treatment, signifies the light that will illuminate the way to victory and the eventual cure of cancer. My Rinde′ wrap™ comes in different styles which are interchangeable and can be worn together or separately. My pieces are timeless and preserve a sense of dignity and decency while being chic and stylish. They are timeless and are mostly hand-washable.
In response to women who do not find it convenient to participate in the process of procuring appropriate headwear once they have begun to lose their hair to chemotherapy I offer a custom service. This service gives me the opportunity to tailor all head-coverings to the needs and preferences of my clients even before hair-loss. Serious thought is placed into each design to make them versatile enough to be worn with the ease of the turban/hat or as fuss-free head-wraps. The Carolyn Series Turwraps™ and other head-coverings in my collection come in a vast array of natural fabrics and blends upon request. My clients have the choice of selecting from the available one-of-a-kind pieces or opting for custom made and or limited editions.
Madona Cole Originals Dignity™ Headwear and accessories are items of wearable art that are designed to bring comfort, flair and dignity to women and girls of all ethnic, social and religious backgrounds. They are also ideal for hat lovers who simply want to enhance their wardrobe, and for those who need help on ‘bad hair days’. Since Madona Cole Originals creations are synonymous with quality lifestyle, there is one to suit everyone’s lifestyle. They range from casual to upscale, and from ‘ simple elegance‘ to ornate.
I offer Dignity Enhancement workshops to support groups and community health organizations. These are free workshops that introduce Madona Cole Originals Dignity™ Collection as a viable solution.
Other workshops offered for a fee serve to: a. ) boost the self esteem of the participants, b. ) facilitate hands-on head-wrapping techniques, and c. ) demonstrate practical ways of making a fashion statement with participants’ own accessories. Currently, 15% of the sales from the Carolyn Series Turwraps™ and Rinde’wraps™ are donated to My Time Has Come™ programs to defray the cost of conducting free workshops for community youth to create original fabric designs on turwraps™ for children and adolescents who are cancer patients. Madona Cole Originals Dignity™ accessories are perfect for gift-giving, and are also ideal items to be sold in hospital and hotel gift shops, as well as specialty boutiques. Madona Cole Originals Dignity™ Collection is also an ideal feature for fund-raising events.
