My name is Paige Benjamin and I am a menswear designer.

When I was about 11 or 12 years old, I designed my first ever fashion magazine. An assemblage of white sketch paper featuring disproportioned fashion figures, decked out in my designer originals.

That moment in time lit my fashion fuse. I was collecting every fashion publication I could find. I became obsessed with shows about fashion, embraced style icons, and eventually was accepted into the high school of Fashion Industries, where I really got to explore the skill and craft of design. Four years later, I attended Parsons School of Design.

After graduating from Parsons, I worked for various fashion companies and learned a lot. Though, I’ve always had a dream and a hope to one day develop my own design collection.

In 2012, I moved to Berlin. It’s such a great city. It’s ironic, because it’s not necessarily aesthetically pleasing, but the vibe is so magnetic, and in large, I believe that’s due to the people that live here. I was immediately taken by the men - in particularly, their style. There just seemed to be an effort put forth in their presentation and yet, there’s a real ease in the way in which it’s presented.

I worked for 5 years in men’s textiles, but in terms of actual fashion designing, my only experience had been in womenswear. Menswear for me , is an opportunity to be apart of something new, different, fun, but most of all, challenging.

H izstry , or his story , was developed because we all have a story to tell.

Your story is literally the designing process. Your pattern, is the foundation. Then , there are all these raw fabrics. So many layers that represent what will be. Slowly, you begin to trim away all of the extra unnecessary pieces. There’s so much forming and shaping that goes on. The lining, that’s placed inside for reinforcement.

And then there’s the thread, which runs throughout, connecting each piece, holding it all together. It’s during this develop ing process where true beauty is created and birthed.

I am using menswear design and the stories of 5 individual men, to reflect an inner strength and authority. A kingdom. Hizstry is an exclusive collection that is meant to introduce identity to those who are unaware of their excellence and reintroduce it to those who may have forgotten.

I will officially launch the collection during fashion week in September 2017. In order to do this however, I will need some financial support. The line consists of 21 pieces. I’m still in need of some fabrics as well as trimmings (buttons, zippers etc), which will ultimately complete the collection.

Then there is the cost of having each piece constructed. Each look (shirt, pant and outerwear piece), beginning with a paper pattern, which then gets transferred to sample fabric before finally being produced on the actual fabric is approximately, 500 euro ($550).

Currently, I am paying for everything in installments, which has been challenging, but also very time consuming, as the goal is to have everything completed by the beginning of August, which could happen a lot faster with some assistance.

By mid August, I will do one final photo shoot for a catalogue/look book featuring all of the pieces and looks within the line. And then September 7th, will be the official fashion show.

All in all, I need your help to raise 10,500 euros by August 11th 2017. Any amount that you are able to contribute would be a big help in literally seeing hizstry in the making as I am also documenting the process as it is being developed. The official documentary, hizstry in the making, will be released at the end of September.

If you want to contribute, simply to go to, https://fundrazr.com/makinghizstry. Thank you so much for you for listening, reading and supporting. I greatly appreciate it.