Benson Roberts III
Benson Roberts is a celebrated fashion designer and apparel maker originally from the Metropolitan Detroit area. He garnered many awards in the field of Fashion Design in the 1980’s and 1990’s.
Benson developed name and brand recognition in the Mid-Western United States as well as in New York and Canada for his Fashion shows and his incredible theatrical presence. After a stunning summer as the headliner at The State/Filmore Theater in Detroit in 1994, Benson relocated his business.
For 10 years the award-winning Atelier Benson/Mange la Mode team was based in New Orleans, Los Angeles, and San Francisco; before settling down in Austin, TX, where he spent 17 years helping to facilitate supply chain issues and manufacturing needs for designers and apparel makers. Completing a full circle; Benson returned to Detroit in April 2019 and plans to share everything that he has learned on his journey with his hometown.
With over 38 years in the Apparel Business, Benson is able to utilize his contacts and skills to bring any project from concept to consumption. It is his goal to disrupt the current apparel infrastructure and to replace it with a new, greener, safer, more profitable job creating culture.
Megan Summerville
Megan Summerville is a nationally renowned Lingerie Designer and Pattern maker. Her eponymous line, Megan Summerville Fine Lingerie combines classic European structure with vintage custom and hand embellished textiles, in limited runs. She is beloved for considering all female shapes with her basic and custom pieces available in sizes 28A-52N. She has pioneered custom bra design for women who have had mastectomies. She enables prosthetics to be worn beautifully and with comfort while her clients are utilizing external forms.
Megan taught at Austin School of Fashion Design where she helped students achieve their goals of attending FIT in New York. Ms. Summerville was also a regular assessor at UT Austin, guiding and mentoring graduating students.
She held the title of Texas Next Top Designer 2009 to 2010 and was commissioned by the Dallas World Trade Center to make a garment for display after her win.
Ms. Summerville currently shows a red capsule collection at Red Ball Denver, the annual Denver based charity event that raises money for AIDS research and to help people living with HIV. Megan is passionate about the technical aspects of hand drafting and cutting patterns. As well, she is known for her masterful construction. Her love of and relationship to fabric runs deep, coming from a long line of textile creatives.
She can often be found with her ringer on silent; soaking in the precious time she has with her two daughters and husband, between bouts of chronic illness, all while building a fashion empire.
​
​
​
​