A civil engineer by day and an e-boutique owner by night, Porsha Key is a bold, Black woman stitching her passions to create a runway for others.

“Fashion, for me, is just a way to tell everyone who you are,” said Key. “You get to choose how you want to present in the world every day.”

Key said her fashion fuels her freedom as a Black woman.

“[We are] rebellious, beautiful, protective, and resilient,” Key said when defining what a Black woman is. “I’m able to be completely free with my creativity.”

More than a decade ago, Key created the St. Louis-based e-boutique La Femme Rebelle Clothing. Although she’s an Ann Arbor, Michigan native, she loves St. Louis and said she lives her brand.

“The thing that gets me through is fashion, it’s style, it’s being able to glamorize pieces of your life,” said Key. “Art is so deeply infused in this city. It feels special. St. Louis feels special.”

La Femme Rebelle Clothing is an online boutique, but Key also has a bright showroom that allows Black women a space for private fittings. It’s intentionally nestled in the heart of downtown St. Louis’ Garment District on Washington Avenue.

It’s housed inside the Bogen Lofts, which was once the Missouri Pear Button Company, the first button company in the state.

Key said every day when she walks along the Garment District she’s inspired.

“I think St. Louis is a place where when you love them, they love you back,” said Key. “I want to create a space that is different than a retail space.”

Her art goes far beyond finding fashions; Key is also a civil engineer for the Illinois Department of Transportation. In her engineering role, she said she helps draft solutions by analyzing the traffic needs in the Metro East. It’s done by engaging with the community to help solve traffic problems.

She said her day job is an art, too.

“Engineering is about cost-efficiently solving problems and I think I take that approach in fashion as well,” said Key.

With her job, Key said she’s able to go to schools and recruit students into the field of STEM. She hopes to amplify minorities in STEM.

“Show the students that engineers can look like me. They can look like you,” Key said.

Although there’s not much research on Black women in STEM, The American Society of Civil Engineers finds only 3% of engineers in 2019 were Black or LatinX women.

However, at IDOT, Key said her experience is different.

“There are a ton of Black women engineers in the department,” she said. “I love it because I get to work with the community.”

No matter what space you find Key in, she will make sure she’s noticed through her art.

“I can be different people in different spaces. I’m kind of just creating the way as I’m doing it,” said Key.