Florida Catholic | GOD’s Seamstress

CAROL FERRAZZANO | FC
Annunciation Parish Good Citizenship Award winner Herla Barthelemy exhibits a wedding dress she created.

Herla Barthelemy: God’s seamstress

The Annunciation parishioner receives the annual Good Citizenship Award from the City of Longwood.

BETTY ANN WEBER | FLORIDA CATHOLIC CORRESPONDENT

Published: 02.01.08

LONGWOOD | Herla Barthelemy is a happy soul, with an easy laugh that comes from deep inside. “God has given me a great gift,” said the focused fashion designer.

This year, celebrating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the city of Longwood presented Barthelemy, 59, a parishioner at Annunciation Church, with its annual Good Citizenship Award.

She was cited for “unselfishly giving 110 percent of her time and talents” to the cause of peace and the advancement of her community.

High praise, indeed, for a young woman, who in 1970 at age 22, brought her mother and three brothers from Haiti to New York. She attended the Fashion Institute of Technology, worked for Vogue Patterns and started her own business — a factory, where she designed, manufactured and sold her formal gowns for teens to buyers nationwide. Her label: Kimarah — her daughter’s name.

“My father wanted me to be a doctor,” she said, “but without direction, I started to sew, liked it and made my first dress when I was 10. When God gives you a gift, you never know what’s next.”

In 1990, Barthelemy closed her showroom and moved Kimarah Inc. to the Orlando area. For 17 years, with a mushrooming clientele — including costumes for Disney Cruise Lines — her custom-made wedding, formalwear and alterations shop has been open for business at 1494 State Road 434 in Longwood.

The seamstress hosts a Wednesday night prayer group and helps make banners for her church and Annunciation Catholic Academy, where her granddaughter, Jacy Lerouge, is enrolled.

She gives high school career talks to students who later call her with eager questions and thanks. And she’s planning to offer sewing lessons to young girls.

Annunciation Catholic Academy Principal Margaret E. Curran understands why Barthelemy received the award.

“Herla is a woman of faith,” said Curran. “She is an inspiration to all who know her. She’s just a marvelous person with such a deep faith. She’s gone through incredibly difficult times and always says, ‘God will take care of it.’”

Barthelemy is happy she followed God’s gift. “When I see a mother crying at the sight of her daughter in one of my wedding dresses,” she said, “I feel so blessed that I’ve made someone so happy.”

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Herla Barthelemy: God’s seamstress

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