INDYSTAR
1ST
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2015 E3
LESLIE BAILEY
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PROVIDED BY ACADEMY OF ART UNIVERSITY
Carmel High School graduate Erin Milosevich debuted her collection at Mercedes-Benz Fashion week in New York on Saturday.
Carmel High School grad at NY Fashion Week Erin Milosevich always wanted to go to fashion school. Her parents, on the other hand, encouraged her to attend business school first. But as teenagers will often do, Milosevich decided to take her own path. “My parents are very smart and practical people, but I didn’t want to sit through four years of business school to do what I wanted to do,” she said. Fortunately, her parents are also supportive. Milosevich spent one year at IUPUI — “at the old Herron, not the new one” — before transferring to study fashion design at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Nick Cave, the artist known for the Soundsuits costume sculptures, was the head of the department at the time. “He was always asking me why I sewed with my fingers so close to the machine,” she said. After graduating with her B.F.A. in fashion design in 2006, Milosevich returned to live in Indianapolis. She worked at White House | Black Market while caring for her grandmother who had been diagnosed with Alzheimers. “About a year after she passed away, I realized that I was not really doing what I wanted or what I was trained for. My best friend had moved to San Francisco about nine months prior to work at Academy of Art University. She told me how good the fashion program was, so I applied and moved out to California” she said. On Saturday, Milosevich and 14 other students from the school debuted their thesis collections at Mercedes-Benz Fashion week in New York. Read on to learn more about this not-born-butraised Hoosier and her path to participating in one of the world’s most famous fashion events.
WANT TO WATCH THE SHOW? When: At your leisure. Where: Available online at www.academyart.edu/ fashionshow/webcast.
Q: How do you feel about participating in New York Fashion Week for the first time? A: “I am nervous but mostly excited to see it all go down. We’ve been working on it for so long.” Q: Tell me about your fall 2015 collection. “It has changed a lot since I designed the collection last summer. The initial inspiration is still relevant, but it’s much more refined now. It’s a contrast of structure and flowing fabric. Q: How many looks do you have at New York Fashion Week? “I have five looks in the show, they’re all skirts and dresses, it’s girly but balanced by the jackets I created using my menswear training. Each look contains crinoline, but it’s modernized where you could wear it to a cocktail party. It’s all gray wool, not like a Marie Antoinette cupcake dress.” Q: Are there designers or fashion houses that you look to for influence or inspiration? A: “I always look at the collections, but I don’t study one person. I like the couturier because of the craftsmanship. The stuff I like personally is Isabel Marant or Chloé — high-end but wearable. I like the craft, the feel, the touch. I don’t think you have to be some crazy designer to have good design.” Q: You graduated with your B.F.A. when you were 21. You’re 30 now. Is there anything you’ve learned along
the way about the fashion industry that surprised you? A: “It’s overwhelming to realize how hard you’re working for fashion. We have to remind ourselves in school that we’re making clothes, not saving lives. It should be fun and awesome, yes, we have to work hard, but it’s fashion.” “My forte is making the clothes, doing the construction. Everybody wants to be a designer, but not everybody can be a designer. I like doing that, it’s not settling, it’s just another option.” Q: It’s refreshing to hear that. There seems to be a fascination with the celebrity and fastfashion side of the industry now more than ever. A. “If I’m making good clothes that make women look beautiful, it doesn’t matter if it’s trendy. Working in retail, being around that, you can be a size 14 and still look amazing in your clothes. Trends are important and people are going to follow them but a high-end client wants to look good. A working woman in Indianapolis doesn’t care if she’s wearing the same thing that a teenage girl in L.A. bought at Forever 21.” Q: You graduate from the masters program in May. What’s next? A. “Get a job. I need to pay back these student loans. There are some fantastic companies here (in California), I wouldn’t mind staying on the West Coast doing fashion or technical design. Q: What would be your dream job? “Moving overseas, working in France at one of the more established houses. I would be happy to work as an underling if I could work at Dior.” ✭ Call Star reporter Leslie Bailey at (317) 444-6094 and follow her on Twitter: @Lesalina.
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