Jamileh Kamran

For more than 55 years Jamileh Kamran, owner of Jamileh Kamran Designs, has dedicated her career to fashion. Along the way she has not only made a name for herself locally, but also nationwide. Kamran has written two books, The Art of Couture and The Art of Decoration. Kamran opened the first School of Fashion in Arkansas, the Jamileh Kamran School of Fashion, now known as Jamileh Kamran Arkansas Fashion School, receiving national accreditation by the Accrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training and licensed by the Arkansas Division of Higher Education. Since then, Kamran has trained and mentored students of all ages and genders to be successful fashion designers and create jobs for themselves and others.

Born in Iran, Kamran has fond memories of her mother taking her to a marketplace and buying her small cuts of leftover fabric, which she would use to make clothing for her dolls. For the then 5-year-old Kamran, this marked the beginnings of a rich career that took her halfway around the world to Little Rock, where she helped raise the city’s profile in haute couture while dressing her clients.

Kamran’s career journey has its beginning in her birthplace ... northern Iran, close to the Caspian Sea. Her family consisted of her parents and her brother, Jalil “Jim” Kamran. Because her father worked for the department of education, the family moved every four or five years. When Jamileh Kamran was about 8, they moved to Tehran. They lived there a few years, then moved to southern Iran, near the Persian Gulf. They returned to Tehran when Kamran was in 12th grade.

At the age of 13, Kamran began to study design during her summer break from school. Her inspiration was her aunt, whom she describes as “the best tailor in town.”

Kamran’s idyllic childhood flowed into adolescence, then adulthood. She was 18 when she met Allen Afsordeh, the man who would become her husband. The two were taking post-high-school college prep courses. The couple dated for a short time, their courtship interrupted by Afsordeh’s enlistment in the army. After his army service was up, the couple married. At that time, Kamran did not practice her design work. Afsordeh found a job as an accountant in a bank, while Kamran worked for Iran Electronics Industries. Then came the day Kamran’s boss took her into his office and warned her to leave the country. Kamran heeded the advice. She and her then-2-year-old daughter, Nirvana, went to the United States in August 1978. Three months later, as Afsordeh was preparing to leave the country and join his family, the Iranian Revolution began. Kamran came to Arkansas to join her brother.

After her arrival, Kamran took English-language courses. She also took business administration courses at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock but ultimately decided that a career involving either was not for her. She returned to her design work, using her home as a base.

She began having private showings at the Little Rock Club atop what is now the 400 West Capitol building. Shortly after that she met the late philanthropist and “hat lady,” Willie Oates, and began charity fundraising through her shows.

Then Kamran got an early feather in her cap, by way of Hillary Clinton, first lady of Arkansas at the time. At the time Clinton’s daughter, Chelsea, and Kamran’s daughter, Nirvana, were both accepted in the statewide Rockefeller gifted math program. When Kamran met Clinton at a function pertaining to the program, she took that opportunity to tell Clinton what she did. Kamran was invited to Clinton’s office to show her some sketches.

Shortly afterward, Bill Clinton was re-elected governor. It was time for another inaugural. Kamran created a design for her, a green lame gown overlaid with chiffon printed in gold. After that, Kamran created quite a few designs for Clinton off and on, traveling to the Governor’s Mansion for fittings.

After Clinton became first lady of the United States, Kamran made a couple of trips to the White House to continue to outfit her during her husband’s first term.

Oates was another devoted client. She and Oates were on at least 12 boards together.

Kamran has volunteered her time through fundraising, working with such entities as the Arkansas AIDS Foundation, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, Lion’s World Services for the Blind, Youth Home of Arkansas, the American Heart Association and the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. She has received numerous awards, and her work was featured in such magazines as People and Southern Bride.

Courtesy Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Helaine Williams