Saturday, July 27, 2019

Textile Designer attends WithIt Conference

Textile Design senior Sabrina Pinello was selected to attend the 2019 WithIt Conference held in Alexandria Virginia.  We interviewed Sabrina to learn more about the amazing experience.  Please see the below interview and images.  Congratulations to Sabrina for her selection for this honor!
      What is WithIt?  WithIt is made up of all women in the home furnishings industry, whether that be those on the business/financial side of the company, the designers themselves, and the lawyers. WithIt is an amazing organization that supports female students, employers, employees, and business owners in the home furnishings industry. It grants marvelous support, inspiration and motivation to others in this business, not to mention an outstanding networking resource! 

Sabrina working on an inspiration board during a Vision Spark, pre-conference workshop
How were you selected for this scholarship?  I was chosen based off of my grade point average, SAT scores, a statement of my personal goals, involvement in extracurricular activities/community, leadership positions, three letters of recommendation and a brief essay. The essay entailed why I felt I was a candidate and how I would contribute to the home furnishings industry.  

Sabrina's inspiration board
         
         What were the conference highlights?  For me, there were many highlights of this conference because the takeaways from it are something a price tag can't match. The amount of networking I got to do, the people I got to meet, speak with, and exchange business cards with, were amazing and a moment to not be forgotten. Additionally, being able to hear some very empowered women speak upon a variety of topics was so inspirational and educational. I’ve made some very valuable friendships, connections and memories. 


      Any words of advice for other students?  If there is something I could share with other students interested in being a candidate for the home furnishings industry or to potential scholarship recipients, it would be to go for it. I never thought such an opportunity would come my way, never mind igniting the dream! WithIt is the organization to be connected with and allow those dreams to bloom to realities!

Jefferson Features Textiles at ITMA Barcelona

Lauren Brauninger, MSTD, featured work
Olivia Manning, BSTD, MSTD in the trade show booth.
Jefferson was a featured university at the 2019 International Textile Manufacturers Association show held in Barcelona, Spain in June.  This show, the most important in global textile innovation, is held every 4 years for a professional audience of those involved in trendsetting textile design, development, manufacturing and marketing.  The show attracted an international audience of approximately 123,000 visitors, from 150 countries to the 46 acre site.  Jefferson was featured in the innovation sector, highlighting student work from the Fashion & Textiles Futures Center.  We welcomed many alumni, colleagues from other institutions and industry guests to our booth.  Please see a few images  from the show. 
Jefferson booth

Booth detail






Textile Design Senior Show

In May 2019, five talented Textile Designers exhibited their undergraduate senior capstone work in the year-end Innovator's Expo.  The five designers were: Jessica Butler, Olivia Manning, Morgan Kuensel, Elizabeth Nwosu and Emily Burke.  Please see images of their installation here below.  Congratulations to our Textile Design Bachelor of Science students!
Elizabeth Nwosu

Emily Burke

Jessica Butler

Morgan Kuensel, detail

Morgan Kuensel

Olivia Manning

Textile Design Master of Science Exhibit

In May 2019, five talented Textile Designers exhibited their Master of Science thesis work.  The five students were: Robin Althouse, Katherine McCarthy, Sivan Ilan, April Traugott and Regan Marriner.  Congratulations to all five for their excellent exhibit and innovative theses!  Please see the images below from the exhibition.
April Traugott

Kat McCarthy

Regan Marriner

Robin Althouse

Sivan Ilan