Entrepreneur brings ‘unforgettable’ urban streetwear designs to new west Belleville shop
Jamaare Luster, a 25-year-old educator and Swansea resident, is adding “entrepreneur” to his résumé with the opening of his new business in west Belleville.
Luster is set to open Unforgettable Fittings, a new urban streetwear shop, at 6400 W. Main St., Suite 3M, in January.
The paraprofessional and substitute teacher for East St. Louis School District 189 is also a clothing designer. Luster’s line of urban streetwear includes jackets, pants, shirts, shorts, skirts, accessories and other items.
His specialty is custom clothing, particularly those made from woven tapestries.
His current work began three years ago when he started looking at tapestry blankets and closely examining the weaves used to make patterns and images.
Luster, who also goes by Maare Rashaad, makes jackets from tapestries and enhances existing clothing by adding embellishments that include patches and parts of tapestries, as well as unlikely materials like bottle caps and small stuffed animals.
Many of the tapestries he uses are also customized. Luster creates montages of photos and other images and sends designs to an overseas vendor that makes tapestries of those designs.
Once the blankets are in his capable hands, he gets to work on the custom clothing.
He also offers apparel featuring eye-catching graphics, some of which are available for viewing (and for purchase) on the Unforgettable Fittings website.
Racks of Luster’s clothing fill the shop floor. Some of the clothing is already customized to feature his brand. Many of the clothes are not yet enhanced but ready for new and custom orders.
He refers to his work as “flipping clothes,” making them better and more eye-catching.
A few dressed mannequins adorn some of his creations. One highlights a corset top made from a repurposed St. Louis Cardinals shirt that was shaped and applied with an epoxy to hold the shape (think armor breastplate but far more fashionable and not nearly as heavy).
Since occupying the suite at the Arcades Center in early November, Luster worked to make the space his own, with some paint and art on the walls and clothes racks and shelves throughout the space.
A hands-on process
As a college student with no previous sewing experience, Luster bought a sewing machine and started experimenting with thrifted blankets and other materials. When he was about 18 years old, a younger cousin showed him how to thread a sewing machine.
From there the self-taught seamster practiced on jeans and other materials. Using a T-shirt as a sizing pattern, he turned a Christmas-themed blanket into a jacket.
His trial-and-error learning process was very hands-on, and he continues to learn, working with new materials and methods.
From one rack, Luster pulled a pair of shorts that had bottle caps all over the front. He said it took a few tries to make them stick before finally finding a fabric glue that did the trick.
More confident with his abilities today, the Tennessee State University graduate wishes he learned to sew sooner since he was always interested in fashion.
While he will provide alterations to existing clothing, Luster prefers to work with original designs and start with a “blank canvas.”
His early interest in fashion had him tapped into Instagram fashion, so he’s very up-to-date on the trends.
While the store on West Main Street is new, Luster and his brand already have a strong online following that includes multiple celebrities from the hip-hop/rap and fashion industries.
Some of these celebrities are featured on his brand’s website and include BlakeIANA, Nardo Wick, Moneybag Yo and TV personality, singer, designer and businesswoman Tammy Rivera.
Luster is hopeful that his business, which is already doing well with online orders, will be booming by summer.
About Unforgettable Fittings
Unforgettable Fittings is located at The Arcades Center, 6400 W. Main St., Suite 3M, in Belleville.
The store’s grand opening takes place at 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 18, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 1:30 p.m.
Hours will be by appointment only Sunday-Wednesday, 4-8 p.m. Thursday-Friday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday.
For more info, call 618-407-9861 or visit unforgettablefittings.com. Images of his work and his clients are available on Instagram, TikTok and other social media platforms.
