KNOX COUNTY, Tenn. — A senior at Hardin Valley Academy wore a unique dress to prom this week.
Madison Ramsey has been working on her dress since last December.
She sewed and designed it all on her own. She made it out of crepe fabric with tulle and lace and said she spent hundreds of hours working on it.
“This was my dream growing up, so it’s like a dream come true that I actually made it,” she said.
In the fall, Ramsey will attend the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, in San Francisco and it's been a long time coming.
“I looked at magazines and I would cut out my favorite dresses,” she recalled. “And I would keep my favorite Barbie dresses in a pile so that one day I could hopefully make a dress like the Barbie dress.”
The senior got her first sewing machine when she turned 10 and took lessons from a sewing teacher while also designing clothes for her dolls and even herself.
Her youngest sister was adopted from Uganda so her goal is to create a company that donates a portion of its profits to support fashion entrepreneurs in that country.
“I’ve been there three times,” she said. “When you’re far off in a remote village, you just don’t have the opportunities to be able to start your own business or do what you love. And I want to go in and help the women and empower them so they can make their own money for their family and start their own business.”