Fashion Futurist Caprece Ann Jackson Talks Sustainability Before Upcycling Event

Caprece Ann Jackson is paving the way for a more sustainable future in fashion.

Talk about sustainable fashion and many may not know what it entails. But Caprece Ann Jackson, fashion futurist and eternal fashionista, is here to educate and promote all things sustainable fashion. A native of Toledo, Ohio, Jackson moved to New York to attend the Fashion Institute of Technology as a Hearst scholar, where she studied advertising and communications. She soaked up all the city had to offer, including roller skating with her classmates into Studio 54 one night and rubbing elbows with artists and luminaries like Grace Jones and Jean-Paul Goude.

Right before taking on a commercial modeling job for the Wilhelmina modeling agency, Jackson went to lunch with B. Smith, the agency’s preeminent Black model, looking for help deciding whether to take the modeling role or use her purchased ticket to Paris, where she had plans to be a freelance journalist.

Jackson recalls B. Smith telling her to hands down go to Paris and live a life worth writing about.

The rest is fashion history. As a freelance journalist, Jackson met many in the fashion world, including Patrick Kelly and Karl Lagerfeld. Five years later, she would return to the states, landing in Washington, D.C. to immerse herself in politics, fashion and public relations.

Jackson now calls Baltimore home and has made a name for herself in its fashion scene.

“Fashion is my happy place,” she says. “It’s my therapy in this mad crazy world.”

Her mix of patterns and fabrics is not only amazing and unique but speaks to her work as a sustainable fashion maven. The beautiful 68-year-old stays busy, promoting sustainable fashion in as many ways as possible.

She began her work in this area when she co-produced “Wear It Out Baltimore” in 2013, a high-end cocktail hour where designers presented their collections. Fast forward to 2015, and Jackson participated in ArtScape, the largest free outdoor arts festival, where she produced installations featuring sustainable designers from Baltimore. In 2020, she teamed up with Bridgett Artise and Rick Davy, creators of Sustainable Fashion Week, which showcases sustainable designers during New York Fashion Week.

Artise — who opened the first sustainable retail store, House of BAV BK Style, featuring sustainable designers at Tanger Outlet in Atlantic City — wants to scale the operation and have stores across the country. Jackson, the first Brand Ambassador for SFW, is working with her to make this happen.

“Trends promote fashion waste,” Jackson says, a fact which makes fashion waste one of the largest polluters in the world.

Since she’s also the first brand ambassador for Swap Across America — a clothing swap experience established in 2020 that goes around the country promoting swapping clothing, wearable art, upcycling and shopping sustainably — Jackson puts her education and experience to work behind this important cause.

“I want to accelerate and expand the vortex of the sustainable fashion movement,” she says.

And with all the work she’s doing, Jackson is already making this goal a reality.

You can find Jackson at the upcoming fundraiser Upcycling Fashion Workshop Paint & Sip on June 24 from 1-4 p.m. Learn more about her at her website caprece.com and follow her on Instagram @capreceannjackson.

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Crystal Mayanja