Five Questions with Lynne Dixon-Speller, founder of the Edessa School of Fashion in Milwaukee’s Third Ward

Lynne Dixon-Speller is an accomplished fashion educator, designer, and entrepreneur whose career spans more than four decades in higher education and apparel design. As the founder and academic dean of Edessa School of Fashion in Milwaukee, she has dedicated her work to creating opportunities for aspiring designers while advancing diversity and innovation within the fashion industry. She was inspired by her grandmother, Edessa Meek-Dixon, who taught her to sew and instilled a commitment to excellence. 

In 2022, Dixon-Speller helped establish Edessa School of Fashion, creating Wisconsin’s first new four-year college approved through the state’s Educational Approval Program and one of the nation’s few fashion colleges founded under minority leadership. Under her leadership, Edessa students have showcased their work at major fashion events, including New York Fashion Week, while the school has become known for blending technical excellence, creativity, and industry engagement. 

Q: As a young girl, your grandmother had a lot of influence on you. Tell us about that relationship and how it inspired you to love fashion.

Dixon-Speller: “My grandmother was a very formal person, and she taught me to sew in a very formal way. I was taught by my mother and by some neighbors, but my grandmother graduated from college in 1920 as a Home Economics teacher. She taught me in a more methodical way that allowed me to do two things. It allowed me to start the idea of pursuing fashion as a career but also to pursue it as an academic career and become an instructor. I appreciated the way she taught me. It was streamlined, and I learned a lot from her.

“She helped shape my career and gave me the name for my school. It helped that she had a cool name. My grandmother was named after a city in Greece, and I've always thought it was a beautiful name. I'll be honest, if her name was Linda, it would not be Linda's School of Fashion. But the fact that it was Edessa, I just think it was meant to be. The only thing I regret is that she doesn’t know this happened. But it happened exactly 100 years after she graduated from college. The state of Wisconsin approved our programs for operation in 2020.”

Q: And how did the school all come to be?

Dixon-Speller: “We thought it would be easier than it was. I already had a team pulled together from the Art Institute of Wisconsin, as it was closing. We all agreed that we had done some phenomenal work and had put together a program there that had reached major accolades. We decided our work was not going to stop there and that we were going to recreate the whole thing but make it only fashion because fashion was what the majority of my team did. I already had instructors; I already had equipment; I already had everything. I just didn’t have a name or a place.”

“But what I didn’t realize was all the paperwork and the bureaucracy that went into creating a college. Colleges are very serious entities, and the state of Wisconsin told us that they were guarding the Wisconsin consumer against fraud. So, they had to make sure that first of all, we knew what we were doing. Secondly, we were legitimate. And thirdly, we could see it to the end. But we’ve met all those measures, and we’re excited that we’re still here. We’re in year four. We’re seniors now.”

Q: This school has achieved a lot of firsts, both in the Midwest and the state of Wisconsin in terms of designations and officialness, and minority leadership is a big part of that. Why is that so important to you?

Dixon-Speller: “The reason minority leadership is important is that a lot of people are more comfortable in spaces where they see people like themselves. And when they’re in leadership positions, it gives you the motivation to continue and move forward. It also gives you connectivity and understanding. What we’ve tried to do in this arena is create a space where no matter what your ethnic background, religion, gender, gender identity, race, any of those things, somebody is here that represents you.”

“But as far as firsts go, we are the first four-year college in the state of Wisconsin with what we refer to as global majority leadership, and we are the only designated four-year college in the state of Wisconsin that the state has approved for operation other than schools that already existed in other states. We are up for approval every single year. Our application was almost three inches thick. It was almost 600 pages long. We put in the work upfront, and what the state did for us was make us better. Every year when we reapply, they keep making us better. It’s a lot of work, but it keeps us straight.”

Q: Can you talk a little bit about the mission and what is most important about the work you’re doing here?

Dixon-Speller: “The most important thing I do is see every student who comes in go out. If I get 12 in, I’ve got to have 12 come out. But it doesn’t always work that way. Life takes over for a lot of people, but I have to create an environment that they are not only able to finish but inspired to. I must create an environment where, if they are strong enough and willing to come here, I must see to it that they get to do it. I had people in my orbit as a young person that facilitated everything I wanted to do. There were no holds barred. I was very supported as a child and was told I could be whatever I wanted. I do realize there are people here that don’t have that support. So, I have to become their support. And Odessa becomes their grandmother. The minute they walk through here, Odessa is their grandmother, too.”

Q: Your school is right in the heart of Milwaukee, in the Third Ward. What do you love about Milwaukee, and why is this a perfect location for your school?

Dixon-Speller: “I love the Third Ward. We are here seven days a week. I'm sitting at St. Paul Fish Company, as it’s our favorite place. Two days ago, I was asked, ‘What is your favorite street in Milwaukee?’ And I said, ‘Broadway.’ There are so many sidewalk cafes and boutiques. We actually do field trips for school where we walk the block. We’ll go look at what Anthropology has or what’s new at Lela. And there are other places that we go to as well in the Third Ward that serve as inspiration. The school is in an artist's building. And the students get on the elevator, and they come up and are inspired all the way. There's always something different to see here, something artistic and something to stimulate their ideas. I think we're in the perfect place.”