I went on a 3 week study abroad to New York City (I was already living there so it wasn't really "abroad" yet), Paris, and Milan. There was a group of 15 or so students on the trip and it was a comparative study of fashion between the three cities. My specialty was wedding gowns, so I spent 3 weeks looking and taking pictures of inspirational fashion - mostly focused on the bridal industry. It was so great to travel around in these cities and study fashion.
Our final project was a small collection based off our inspirations. We had to pitch our line to 2 professors in Milan so I decided I would start by finding a niche that needed to be filled - modest wedding dresses. I explained the market of Utah County (where I live) and how we need sleeves and shoulders on our gowns for religious purposes. There are hardly any dresses that are "fashion-forward" in the bridal industry that the girls who need sleeves and shoulders could wear without having to build on to the gown. It has always been a dream of mine to start a wedding dress line, especially a modest wedding dress line. My idea was received very well and it gave me the confidence to keep reaching for my dream and hopefully one day I will achieve it. I am so passionate about weddings in general, but especially the wedding dress. I would love to be able to create gowns that could be worn by all woman who for whatever reason prefer not to wear a strapless gown on their wedding day.
Here are some of the designs I submitted in my project.
