About Us

Growing up in Louisiana, I fell in love with the French language, customs, culture and fashions. So it seemed only natural to me when it became time to hang up my entrepreneurial shingle, that whatever name I chose to place on it would be French. Maison de la Reine which translates to English as House of the Queen covers just about every aspect of what I want to portray in a business name. I was given the name Queen at birth. There still remains no one in my family who can accurately tell me why that name was chosen. However, the name suits me just fine.

My second passion in life has been re-creating awesomeness out of discarded items. I watched my mom transform many things others would consider trash into beautiful crafts. She in turn sold those items to others. The amount of money she made from their sales was not enough to make us rich, but it birthed in me a desire to create and one day to become a business owner. My chance came when I learned how to sew on my mother’s old treadle Singer sewing machine. I became very good at designing and constructing garments. Soon, orders began coming in from neighbors and friends to make clothes for them like the ones I made for myself.

At the completion of high school, I moved to California where I attended the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. At this time, F I DM consisted of about two floors in the Barker Brothers furniture store building in downtown Los Angeles. I enjoyed attending classes there for approximately one year. Although I worked part time, my income was not enough to afford tuition. Ultimately, I had to drop out to seek full-time work. Although, for years, I was no longer in the fashion industry, I continued to be constantly complimented by others on my choice of clothing, shoes, accessories and hairstyles.

Today, my entrepreneurial shingle hangs high as we manufacture and sell upcycled handbags, necklaces, rings, earrings and bracelets.  Some of the items we use to construct our upcycled products are plastic grocery bags, cardboard, newspaper, reclaimed wood, paper bags and fabric and leather remnants. We also offer for sale wigs, headwraps and t-shirts. These items are made from industry standards new materials only. Future goals for Maison de la Reine includes providing jobs for our local community, funding afterschool and summer programs for the arts, for children who otherwise could not afford it and donating to organizations that offer tennis for boys and girls, sewing instructions, cooking classes, dance and gymnastic classes as well as music and drama lessons.