Congratulations to this year’s scholarship winners and new hires!

Please give a round of applause to all of the Academy of Art University School of Fashion students who have accomplished so much this year! Here are some of our award winners:

Royal Society of the Arts Awards

The RSA Student Design Awards challenges emerging designers with the task of finding solutions to practical pressing social, environmental and economic issues through design thinking.

JC Munoz, BFA Fashion Design & Textile Design

Jc Munoz. Image: courtesy of Jc Munoz.
Jc Munoz. Image courtesy of Jc Munoz.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bio: Born in Monterey, California raised in Austin, Texas.

Hobbies/ Interests: Sports, Drawing, Fitness, Textiles, Shoe Design, Art.

Career goals: to work for a designer to understand the industry and learn.

Life goal: to start my own clothing line and mentor/discover other designers.

Artwork: SolarKnit is the concept of creating a knit that can transform its shape as well as create its own energy source via sunlight.

Munoz's "Solar Knit" Image: courtesy of Jc Munoz
Munoz’s “Solar Knit” Image courtesy of Jc Munoz

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Target Award for Fashion – $1,000
  • Pointcarre Design Software, License and Support, Award for Textile Design
  • Sustainable Design Practices Award, Sponsored by Techmer PM – $1,000
  • Founder’s Portfolio Award – $500

Megan Myers, BFA Interior Architectural Design & Textile Design

  • Founder’s Portfolio Award – $500

Louise Guo, BFA Fashion Merchandising

  • RSA Leadership Award for Fashion/Textile Design – $1,000

Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA)

Established in 1962, The Council of Fashion Designers of America is a not-for-profit trade association whose membership consists of more than 470 of America’s foremost womenswear, menswear, jewelry, and accessories designers. The CFDA is devoted to supporting and nurturing new and emerging design talent with scholarship awards and post-graduate educational initiatives such as CFDA+ the Eileen Fisher Social Innovator program, The CFDA {Fashion Incubator} and The CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund.

Pitzy Villagomez Ortega, BFA Fashion Design

Pitzy Villagomez Ortega. Image: courtesy of Pitzy Villagomez Ortega
Pitzy Villagomez Ortega. Image courtesy of Pitzy Villagomez Ortega

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bio: Pitzy Villagomez Ortega’s inspiration comes from history, culture and art itself, and although she is currently based in San Francisco, she is greatly inspired from her time in Shanghai. She expresses her creativity through sketching and photography. When she is not designing she likes to spend her time outdoors surfing, dancing or doing yoga.

A peak at Ortega's CFDA scholarship award winning work. Image: courtesy of Pitzy Villagomez Ortega
A peak at Ortega’s CFDA scholarship award winning work. Image courtesy of Pitzy Villagomez Ortega

 

 

 

 

 

  • CFDA Scholarship Award – $10,000

Anh Phuong Thy Do, BFA Fashion Design

Anh Phuong Thy Do Image: courtesy of Anh Phuong Thy Do
Anh Phuong Thy Do. Image courtesy of Anh Phuong Thy Do

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Description of artwork:  I was inspired by the charcoal art of Korean artist Seon Ghi Bahk. I think its phenomenal for artists to be able to turn something rough and ordinary into an extraordinary and elegant artwork. So my idea was to turn the rough texture of coal into minimal and refined garment details.

Bio: I am from Da Nang, Viet Nam. I have been in the US for 6 years. My hobbies are film photography and travel.

Career goal: to find an internship for this summer in NYC.

A page from Do's CFDA scholarship award winning project. Image: courtesy of Anh Phuong Thy Do
A page from Do’s CFDA scholarship award winning project. Image courtesy of Anh Phuong Thy Do

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • CFDA Scholarship Award – $5,000

YMA-FSF Scholarship

The Fashion Scholarship Fund offers its scholars internships in the fashion industry with various companies in different cities such as New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Dallas, Kansas City and Greensboro. Scholars have the opportunity to complete their internships in a multitude concentrations such as design, buying, public relations, social media and finance at companies including Ralph Lauren, Macy’s, Phillips-Van Heusen, The Doneger Group, Greg Norman Collection, Global Brands Group, Kohl’s, Levi Strauss & Co, NYDJ, Randa Accessories, Ross Stores and Nautica. Each student below was awarded a $5,000 scholarship, mentoring with an industry leader for one year, and internship opportunities with Levi Strauss & Co., Li & Fung, Macy’s, and Ross Stores, among others.

Martin Evensen, BFA Fashion Merchandising

Stephanie Michelle Hendrawan, BFA Fashion Merchandising

Busara Boussard, BFA Fashion Merchandising

Celina Enriquez, BFA Fashion Merchandising

Fashion Snoops International Print + Pattern Competition

Fashion Snoops has launched a competition whereby students from around the world can submit original artwork with the chance of winningprizes.

Juan Chen, MFA Textile Design, first place

  • iPad Mini, designs featured on the Fashion Snoops website, and a three month internship in their New York office.

Hong Ni, MFA Textile Design, third place

  • Designs and profile featured on Fashion Snoops website, and a three month internship in their New York office.

Bo Hyun-im, MFA Textile Design, runner up

JC Munoz, BFA Fashion Design & Textile Design, runner up

Joseph Khawane, MFA Textile Design, runner up

Lauren Lusby, BFA Textile Design, runner up

Melissa Stefanny, BFA Textile Design, runner up

Xing Liu, MFA Textile Design, runner up

Namrata Bhandari, MFA Textile Design, runner up

San Francisco – Paris Sister City Scholarship Exchange in Paris, France

Studio Berçot

  • Keith Gunning, BFA Fashion Design
  • Shuman Yao, BFA Fashion Design

L’Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne

  • Amanda Manashi, BFA Fashion Design
  • Rikki Peach, MFA Fashion Design

Adidas

Livia Bianda, BFA Fashion Design

Livia Bianda. Image: courtesy of Livia Bianda
Livia Bianda. Image courtesy of Livia Bianda

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bio: From Jakarta, Indonesia. 

Interests and Hobbies: Softball and traveling.

Career goals: To one day be a company’s creative director.

Collection: inspired by the uniforms and exaggerated silhouettes seen on football players. It focuses on unique silhouette and creative fabric techniques and colors. This collection features jackets with built-in backpacks, fanny packs, double layered garments, and backpacks. Techniques used include: mounting and bonding of different sizes of mesh.

Old Navy

Bowen Tian, BFA Fashion Design 

IMG_7791
Bowen Tian. Image courtesy of Bowen Tian

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

040115_107
Image of Bowen Tian’s  winning project for Old Navy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

040115_108
Image of Bowen Tian’s winning project for Old Navy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Artwork:

For the cover bag, I used vanes and leather as my main fabric, such like usual travel bag that is also functional. On the handle, there is a tag with my name and the brand that I designed for. In this project, I used the technique of felting make the text more 3D looking. I pushed felt in my fabric as the letter. And I bleached the denim to make it looks like water wave in order to cooperate the feeling of summer time.

Estene Marquez, BFA Fashion Design 

IMG_9703
Estene Marquez. Image  courtesy of Estene Marquez.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bio: Born and raised in Sunnyvale, California

Hobbies/ Interests:  Ever since I was young, I have always been interested in anything that had to do with the arts. In my spare time I would always be playing the guitar, drawing, painting, learning ceramics, knitting, and of course sewing.

Life goalsIn the future, I plan on developing my own line for mass market. However, my ultimate goal is to have my own RTW brand.

040115_085
Image of Estene Marquez’s winning project for Old Navy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

040115_080
Image of Estene Marquez’s winning project for Old Navy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Artwork: 

A lot of this project relied heavily on combining trend research with Old Navy classics such as denim, graphic tees, and button ups. Of course there are always multiple trends happening during a season, so I just chose a few of them that I felt would match my design aesthetic. The 1960s’ and 1970s trend inspired the a-line skirts, bohemian prints, loose billowy attitude, and silhouettes. The color story was extracted from the classic red, white, and blue Americana colors. Seaming details were influenced by the American sport, baseball.

Written By: Malcolm Thomas