Fashion Design Students Reveal their Clothing Collections
August 04, 2022 - 09:08 AM
The last project for Fashion Design students at Mt. SAC is to have their clothing collection developed and modeled for a professional photographer and upload these studio photos to build an online portfolio of their work.
The graduating class has been working on their collections all year, according to Fashion Department Program Coordinator Maria Davis.
“The portfolios will be used to apply to four-year art schools or work in the industry,“ explained Davis.
Graduating Fashion Design student Abner Albino is looking forward to adding the photos of his latest creations to his online portfolio.
“My collection is called ‘Botanic Reverie’, using botanical design elements in the fashion, like flowers and plants.”
The students choose their own models for their collection, usually friends or other students. In Albino’s case, one of his models was Briana Roche, a Dance student.
Watch a video slideshow put together by the Fashion Design program of the students' work taken during this photo shoot.
An online portfolio is generally required, both for advanced fashion education and
getting a job in fashion design, explained Davis.
“You cannot work without a portfolio,” she said. “That’s just the way it is.”
Thus, the entire Fashion Design certification, and the bulk of the Associate’s program, is the process of creating the body of work to fill a portfolio.
“It’s an 18 to 24-month process,” Davis said. “I always have one or two students who already have their Bachelor’s or Master’s degree, who enroll in the Fashion Design certificate program just to build their portfolio.”
Albino, who wants to work in film and television as a costume designer, says the key to a successful online portfolio are designs showing an eye for future tastes.
“It’s all about being the trendsetter, being what’s next,” he said.
Davis said incoming students should be tech savvy before starting the program, as designing the patterns for clothes is done in Computer Assisted Design (CAD) software. The fashion design industry uses 2D and 3D modeling programs, similar to that used by architects and engineers. Gerber Technology donates the licenses for the software to Mt. SAC.
Davis hired professional photographer Daniel Hernandez for the shoot. Daniel is a former Mt. SAC photography student, who has been a professional
photographer for many years and learned to shoot portraits at the college. Photography
professor James Loy and his Fashion Photography class, PHOT 16, also help with shooting
student work.
In addition, Mt. SAC offers a Fashion Merchandising curriculum, which is a very different
program, focusing on the business side of the industry.
