It was in 6th grade when Nattie Cura Defrances , designer and owner of LoveJoy Couture, discovered her love for turning a piece of fabric into a beautiful dress. Despite of the hardships she encountered growing up as the youngest in a family of 12. She would get worn out clothes from her mom's closet and use that for her dressmaking project in her Home Economics class. She received praise from her teacher telling her she has great attention to detail in her cuts and sewing techniques. This gift helped her all throughout high school and college when she couldn't afford to buy new clothes so she opted to just create her own using hand me downs. Some of her clothes are sewn by hand and if she needed a sewing machine, she would go to her sister-in-law and ask if she could borrow hers to get her designs done. She often receives praise from her teachers and friends when she wears something she made asking her where she bough her clothes to which she would proudly say that she made it from used clothes of her mom, her siblings or from relatives. It is with years of experience that she has mastered the art of sewing her own designs and she knew that someday she will open her own shop.
LoveJoy Designs, started when she sewed for her daughters, Lovelyn and Joyceann, - to which the company is named after, and used them as her models. She would then receive orders from parents requesting her to sew clothes for their children. The popularity of her creations grew making her the go to person for customized designs and bulk orders (i.e school uniforms, costumes etc). Even when she migrated to the US in year 2001, her passion for sewing did not stop. Friends and neighbors started asking her for little alterations and designing gowns for special events. Nattie is able to balance her time with work and continuing to work on her goal to be a famous fashion designer and entrepreneur.