Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a fashion student at The Cut Fashion Academy?

For 17-year-old high school student, Selina Yang, the academy is helping her take her love of fashion design to new heights—by applying to the school of her dreams, Parsons School of Design in New York City.

Selina is part of the Portfolio Preparation class working on her university application for several art schools, but Parsons is at the top of her list. “When you hear Parsons, you think about Anna Sui or Alexander Wang,” says Selina. “Parsons is where the most creative minds go. It’s something that really rings the bell for me.”

The Beginnings of a Fashion Designer

When Selina was a little girl, her mom and grandma taught her how to hand sew. She would make outfits for her Barbie dolls, which sparked her interest in fashion at a young age. “I feel like there was never a starting point where I started to like fashion, it has just always been there,” says Selina as she thinks back on her childhood, “I feel like there was never a starting point where I started to like fashion, it has just always been there.”

Now, Selina has illustrated and designed a collection of 12-pieces for her professional portfolio with a combination of sketches, technical drawings, three-dimensional garments, and fine art.

Shapes and Colours of the Renaissance Era

The inspiration behind Selina’s portfolio started out broad, coming from aspects of surrealism all the way to the renaissance. She gravitated towards the Greek and Roman gods, doves and their wings, and the gold and silver details of ancient architecture. She initially created 30-40 drafts of different designs, and slowly narrowed it down to a 12-piece collection.

The process of choosing only 12 designs was difficult for Selina, but she had help. “I really love the environment at the Cut. When I was trying to narrow it down from 30 designs, everyone in the studio was helping me and sharing their opinions,” says Selina. “It made me feel so confident in my designs, and I was super happy that people actually liked them.”

As for the colour palette, Selina had a clear vision for her black and white sketches. “For me, sometimes the colour palette is brought together by one piece. After I finished one certain dress, I took apart all the colours of that dress and added them to other pieces—the blues and pinks.”

Words of Wisdom for the Next Young Designer

With her portfolio almost complete, Selina is excited to start her next adventure in the world of fashion. And she has some advice for upcoming young designers: “If you have an idea, just draw it out. It doesn’t matter if you think it’s weird. A lot of the designs in this collection started out as something super weird! One of these original designs went through 6 or 7 rounds until I finalized it. Just let it flow naturally, and don’t rush.” 

Are you interested in becoming a student at the Cut Fashion Design Academy? We offer a full-time 2-year Fashion Design and Creative Arts Diploma and 3-year Fashion Design and Creative Arts Diploma with Co-op. The Cut also runs seven 14-week full-time certificate courses and over 30 part-time classes to advance your fashion career.

Reach out to us at admissions@the-cuttingroom.com or visit our website for upcoming Fall 2019 classes.