Featured Artist

Sitting in her room, a bright blonde haired little girl ma- ing; when she creates a design, she models it herself. neuvers a heavy pair of fabric scissors as she cuts away One of her favorites is a pink cocktail dress, made during a at her shirts, skirts and dresses scattered across the three week summer intensive course at Parsons School of Defloor. In the eyes of her shocked parents, seven-year- sign during the summer of 2019. Despite the pressure to come old Amanda McVey was hacking away at her clothes, but in up with a wearable design in under three weeks, McVey found the young girl’s eyes, she was creating a chic, runway ensemble. inspiration in a simple quote and got to work immediately. Senior McVey is a double threat in the fashion indus- “My inspiration came from this quote I stumbled across, try as both a designer and model. ‘glorious femininity,’ and I realCurrently, she is preparing herself for college and a future in fashion, “My work over ly wanted to embody that,” McVey said. “I felt that orchids really played which has led her to spend a great deal of time reflecting on her past and the original roots that sparked the years has into that theme and I was obsessed with this light shade of pink at the time so it all came together.” these artistic passions of hers. “I’ve always been a pret- gotten more After sparking inspiration and sketching a couple basic designs, ty creative person, and I always liked dressing myself up conceptual.” McVey’s process entailed pinning a mock-up of her design with a plain and accessorizing,” McVey said. cotton fabric called muslin to underHer design ideas did not stand the draping of the pattern, become to life until she learned how to sew in fourth grade. fore committing to her final fabric. Next, she made a pattern Soon after that, McVey’s interest in modeling flour- by tracing the rough muslin pieces to pattern paper, a type of ished, and so did her serious intent within fashion design. paper that is used to trace and prepare the shapes of the de“I was always a bit taller so my mom thought, ‘Oh, I sign before the final product is constructed. Finally, she used think [modeling] is something you would like, you could the pattern to cut her final fabric, the beautiful, silky pink probably do it and you love fashion so I think you’d like that embodied McVey’s “glorious femininity” inspiration. it,’ so I started to dabble in [modeling],” McVey said. McVey’s Parsons experience was momentous and As with most of her projects, McVey does an life-changing in her pursuit of fashion design. This summer equal balance of modeling and fashion design- intensive pushed her to not only come up with innovative

Sketches from McVey’s preliminary stage of designing

designs on paper, but also breathe them to life of the dress did not look the way she wanted. in the company of other aspiring designers. “I was able to fix these later, but that’s an

“[This piece] really helped respark my drive example of why you want to take your time when it came to and care when creatactually doing ing clothing,” she said. physical piec- Fabric samples McVey’s advice to somees,” McVey said. one pursuing fashion design

Through her is to be curious and inquisexperiences in itive to the world around the fashion in- us, because inspiration dustry, McVey can be found anywhere. has learned, “Keep a sketchchanged, and book and just put anygrown both thing down because as an artist, anything can inspire and a person. a fashion design—

“One of the whether it’s an idea, main things I shape, color or monoticed about tif,” McVey said. my work over Right now, the years is that McVey is working it has gotten as a model and more conceptu- individually al and less idea creating her based,” McVey own fashion said. “That has designs. She a lot to do with the different is represented as a art programs I’ve gone into, model by two agencies: and how my art teachers have pushed me.” a mother agency in New York that focuses

Fashion design is not an easy process, and the on developing and improving her skills and possibilities for problems and errors along the an agency in San Francisco that finds her way are endless. But, McVey has learned im- clients to work for. She also works with Paly portant life lessons Theatre as a costume designthrough the challenges she faces. “If one thing “Fashion is a er, where she manages underclassmen, creates mood boards for the shows and helps bring is off at the beginning, like your form of art the performances to life through the costumes she puts together. pattern is not quite right or the fabric that is really McVey intends to pursue fashion in the future, in collays funny, if you lege and as a career. Fashion don’t fix it right then and there, it’s important.” is a huge part of her life and a way to express going to cause a herself creatively. series of problems all the way down the line,” “A lot of the time people who arMcVey said. “That’s an important life lesson en’t in the fashion industry look at too, that when you have an issue in the pres- fashion as frivolous, or just aesent, deal with it the best you can instead of thetic,” she said. “I think fashletting it accumulate and worsen over time.” ion is a form of art that is really

In fact, one of the challenges she faced while important, with understanding creating her pink cocktail dress was near the how it relates to self expression.” beginning of the sewing process. The zipper hadn’t been sewn in well and the under-arms