Fashion is many things — material, ephemeral, cultural — but at its most resonant, it’s generational. In St. Louis, where old Garment District warehouses still echo with the hum of machines and stories stitched in time, a new name joins the legacy: Megan Perry, a stylist, entrepreneur, and third-generation fashion professional, has been named to the Board of Directors of the Saint Louis Fashion Fund, the nonprofit cornerstone of the region’s fashion revival.

This isn’t just an appointment — it’s a return to form, a full-circle moment for a woman whose lineage maps directly onto the city’s rich style history. Perry brings with her not only personal credibility, but a deep familial connection to Washington Avenue — once the heart of America’s garment industry — and now, thanks to the Fashion Fund and its board, a site of renewed promise.

The Fashion Fund: A Mission Rooted in Rebirth

Founded in 2014, the Saint Louis Fashion Fund exists to nurture emerging designers, support local talent, and reignite the region’s legacy as a national fashion hub. Located in the historic Garment District, it has been a voice for creative advocacy, workforce development, and community impact — from its design incubator to mentoring initiatives and cross-sector partnerships.

Its leadership — led by Chair Susan Sherman, a longtime arts and fashion advocate — has continuously prioritized diversity, independent brand growth, and fashion entrepreneurship. The board’s evolution reflects a forward-facing mission: to weave the new into the old and ensure that St. Louis is not remembered solely for what it was — but celebrated for what it is becoming.

With the addition of Megan Perry, that weaving becomes literal, familial, and generational.

Born Into the Craft: A Heritage of St. Louis Fashion

Megan Perry’s story begins not on a fashion runway, but in the backrooms of Brown Shoe Company — now known as Caleres, one of the largest and oldest footwear companies in the United States. Her father, a designer there for 36 years, created lines for names like Carlos Santana, Fergie, and a slew of other celebrity fashion projects.

But the legacy stretches back further. Megan’s grandfather ran Gelbers’, a men’s store nestled in Washington Avenue’s once-bustling Garment District. And her great-grandfather? He operated a women’s custom dress atelier, also in the district, designing for the socialites and working women of early 20th century St. Louis.

That heritage isn’t anecdotal. It’s architectural. The very buildings Megan now helps steward as a board member contain the echoes of her family’s past.

The LA Interlude: Finding Voice Beyond the Arch

Like many creatives from the Midwest, Perry eventually sought space to define herself outside of legacy. In 2014, she moved to Los Angeles, chasing a career in acting but soon discovering her true vocation: fashion styling.

Perry’s hands-on approach — working at retail boutique Splash as a teen, joining buying trips, and later assisting celebrity stylists — gave her a ground-level education in fashion markets and people management. These experiences shaped her distinct understanding of how style communicates identity — not just on the runway, but in everyday life.

While in LA, Perry worked in Studio Services for major houses like Prada, Lanvin, and Temperley London, connecting talent and designers for commercial and film shoots. She also became Reese Witherspoon’s stand-in for multiple productions, gaining rare insight into the costume and character pipeline from script to screen.

And she didn’t stop there. In 2009, she launched KM2, a shoe and accessory brand, with her sister. The line debuted at LA Fashion Week, quickly gaining attention for its accessible design and strong silhouettes — a precursor to the vision she would later bring back home.

Return to St. Louis: Styling with a Purpose

Perry returned to St. Louis in 2012, determined not to simply replicate LA trends, but to rebuild something meaningful. Working quietly as a stylist “by referral,” she became a go-to for clients seeking both confidence and authenticity. Her work spans personal wardrobe curation, event styling, and editorial direction — always driven by intimacy, independence, and transformation.

In 2022, alongside her parents, Perry launched Cynthia Richard, an affordable luxury shoe brand blending her LA sensibilities with her family’s design instincts. The label — named in part for her mother — showcases bold shapes, high craftsmanship, and price accessibility. It’s already being stocked in select boutiques and promoted at trade shows, with plans for expanded collections.

Where KM2 was experimentation, Cynthia Richard is refinement. And in many ways, it reflects Megan herself: poised, direct, and confident in both vision and voice.

Board Appointment: Signaling a New Era for the Fund

Susan Sherman, Chair of the Saint Louis Fashion Fund, put it simply:

“As a successful independent brand and stylist, Megan is uniquely qualified to help the Fund amplify its scope of work, particularly as it relates to business attraction and growing the fashion brands who already call STL home.”

Perry’s appointment signifies more than a resume endorsement — it’s a symbol of cross-generational collaboration, bringing entrepreneurial energy, aesthetic fluency, and lived experience into institutional strategy. Her ability to speak both vintage and digital, to merge LA and STL, makes her a bridge figure in the city’s fashion renaissance.

“I am excited to be a member of the Fashion Fund board,” Perry said in a statement, “and look forward to working with such a diverse group of creatives and fashion professionals — especially to be a part of their ongoing effort to reclaim St. Louis’ roots as a fashion capital.”

Fashion Capital: A City Reawakens

Reclaiming that capital status is no small feat — but it’s not without precedent. St. Louis was once second only to New York in garment production, housing over 300 clothing manufacturers by mid-century. But outsourcing, automation, and shifts in consumer culture hollowed out much of the local industry.

The Saint Louis Fashion Fund, alongside community partners, has been working to reverse that narrative — providing mentorship, design space, funding access, and public programming that makes fashion feel possible again. From local high school programs to professional residencies, its efforts center around inclusion, innovation, and heritage.

Perry’s lived experience mirrors these values. She understands small brand hurdles, the grind of trade shows, the nuances of styling across cultures and body types. She brings not just credibility, but empathy, knowing that today’s designers are navigating algorithmic relevance, global competition, and cultural responsibility — all at once.

Why Megan Perry Matters Now

In an era where diversity, regional equity, and sustainable fashion are no longer optional, Megan Perry represents the kind of leadership that is rooted and responsive. She doesn’t need to guess where fashion is going — she’s lived the pivots, from big-box retail to boutique curation, from family legacy to personal brand creation.

Her appointment also reframes what a fashion capital can be. It’s not about skyscrapers or showrooms, but about networks of support, storytelling, and strategy. Perry’s influence in the boardroom will likely help shape programming that:

• Supports emerging designers navigating e-commerce and market entry
• Bridges national and local talent pipelines
• Amplifies female and BIPOC-led brands
• Brings visibility to St. Louis as a viable, creative ecosystem

Looking Ahead: The Legacy She’s Building

For Megan Perry, this is not just a board seat. It’s a return to a street her great-grandfather once walked with bolts of fabric under his arm. It’s a continuation of a shoe story started in a design room at Brown. It’s a blueprint for how cities can harness generational creativity to forge new futures.

No comments yet.