Events

2023 Senior Students' Fashion Show

NEW EARTH
April 22, 2023 from 2-4 p.m.
Free Public Event
South City Campus Atrium
1575 South State Street
Salt Lake City, UT

2023 Collection Development & Collection Production Class

TBA

Hope Ainsworth
Graduating August 2022

Hope Ainsworth grew up loving cosplay and costuming, and it was her desire to improve her hobby through sewing that led her to the SLCC Fashion Institute. While there, she fell in love with design and now hopes to design clothing and costumes as a career. Hope currently works as a sewer and is in line to become a patternmaker. She dreams of one day having her own fashion brand.

Aurelia Jones
Graduating May 2022

Aurelia Jones always knew she wanted to go into fashion and costume design. She has dreamed of becoming a costume designer since she was very small, watching and helping her mother work on costumes, and her love of the field has only grown from there. When it came time to research fashion programs in Utah, she found that SLCC’s was the best. Aurelia finds inspiration in the small and quiet moments of everyday life. Her fairy collection fuels her desire to create something magical, something accessible to everyone – not just to those already immersed in the fashion world. In the future, Aurelia hopes to create more magic. She hopes to get her foot in the door of Utah’s theatrical design world. And who knows? Maybe somewhere along the way she’ll open a shop to sell her designs, too.

Jade Joyo
Graduating May 2022

Jade Joyo is originally from Cebu, Philippines and moved to Utah in 2017. Though she’s loved fashion ever since she was young, it was the Project Runway TV show that gave Jade the push she needed to enroll at SLCC. Jade takes inspiration from the concept of embracing one’s inner darkness and balancing it with positivity, beauty and color rather than trying to erase it. She loves experimenting with different kinds of silhouettes, such as mixing masculine and feminine elements to produce eye-catching, fluid looks. After SLCC, Jade would love to continue designing statement pieces for the LGBTQIA+ community, or show a collection at Manila Fashion Week so that her parents could attend in person.

Shreya Parihar
Graduating May 2022

Shreya Parihar is originally from India. When she moved to the US twelve years ago, she brought her lifelong fondness for fashion and fascination with the creative process around clothing design. Above all, Shreya finds inspiration in nature. She believes reflecting on the environment manifests inner peace, which in turn inspires her to create. Shreya’s career goal is to start a clothing line.

Debra (Niky) Phipps

Niky Phipps’ interest in fashion began with her love of fabrics, textures and colors. During the fashion program at SLCC, she has discovered her love of the “puzzle process” of patterning and construction. Her biggest inspirations come from flowing fabrics and styles with understated grace. When Niky finishes school next year, she hopes to gain work experience in the fashion industry and possibly launch her own design house.

Alicia Scott
Graduating May 2022

Alicia Scott is originally from Peru. She draws her design inspiration from Peruvian and other world cultures, though she’s always looking to be inspired by “anywhere and anything.” For Alicia, clothing is a form of art. “Art has become a part of my life, and it is the best way to express ourselves,” she says. Her main career goal is to keep growing, create things people will want to have in their wardrobe, and get a job or create her own job.

2023 Production & Sourcing Class

TBA

Jade Joyo
Graduating May 2022

Jade Joyo is originally from Cebu, Philippines and moved to Utah in 2017. Though she’s loved fashion ever since she was young, it was the Project Runway TV show that gave Jade the push she needed to enroll at SLCC. Jade takes inspiration from the concept of embracing one’s inner darkness and balancing it with positivity, beauty and color rather than trying to erase it. She loves experimenting with different kinds of silhouettes, such as mixing masculine and feminine elements to produce eye-catching, fluid looks. After SLCC, Jade would love to continue designing statement pieces for the LGBTQIA+ community, or show a collection at Manila Fashion Week so that her parents could attend in person.

Breekel (Kel) Orton
Graduating May 2022

Kel Orton’s aesthetic is “classy, sophisticated and edgy with a little bit of mystery,” and her goal is to create luxurious designs for both men and women while inspiring others. She already holds a degree in fashion design from SLCC and, once she finishes her technical apparel degree, plans to launch a business here in Utah, where she feels there is a “a lot of room to grow.” Kel would love to build a community and create jobs for sewers, pattern makers and designers while educating the wider public about slow fashion and sustainability. She wants those who wear her designs to feel beautiful and confident. Kel knows everything she’s learned at SLCC will help her build a career and grow within the fashion industry.

Salt Lake Community College is the only Utah higher education institute to offer a fashion program and has been educating design students for more than 20 years. Through the college's Fashion Design Institute, students earn an associate of applied science (AAS) degree in Visual Merchandising, Fashion Design, and Technical Apparel Design.

Fashion Design graduates have gone on to prestigious design schools nationally and internationally. Others have gone on to design for companies such as Ralph Lauren Saks Fifth Avenue, and Guess Kids. Many of the Fashion Institute's graduates enrich the design industry in Utah by taking jobs as seamstresses, pattern makers, merchandisers, illustrators, and more.

"Right now, we have this opportunity to really step back and consider how we want to re-approach style and design," says Fashion Institute Program Manager Mojdeh Sakaki, noting that more than 90% of the retail industry shut down during the pandemic. "There has been a lot of changes. Suits are gone, comfort and leisure are booming. And new 3-D printing technology is introducing new types of fabrics and patterns. It is an exciting time to be in fashion."

Special Thanks