Alumni

Sketching Expertise Opens Doors in Footwear for Alumna Mia Tambaoan

Mia Tambaoan is a graduate from the Fashion Design program and is now designing footwear for Seychelles and BC in Los Angeles. She said her love of drawing opened doors for her in the industry. She and her team recently hosted current Footwear Design students for a day of insights. We caught up with Mia to find out more.

Tell us a little about yourself and what you do at Seychelles: I am currently working as a footwear designer at Seychelles. I focus mainly on the BC brand and special make ups for customers, but help out with the Seychelles brand as well. Our design team works very closely together, from shopping and traveling to building the lines for the season.

What do you like most about your job? I love the people I work with. Because Seychelles is a small company, we get to work closely with most of the departments and learn from each other. Whether it’s packing shoes for shows or even just grabbing coffee for coworkers, we help each other out regardless of what department we’re in.

Any advice for current FIDM Students? Be open to opportunities and get as much experience/exposure to what you want to do in the future because you never know what it will lead to. I did Fashion Design at FIDM, but because I loved to draw I was blessed to be given the opportunity to now be a part of the footwear industry.

What is your biggest goal right now? To continue doing what I love and learning as much as I can. Right now I can’t imagine doing anything else other than design, whether it’s in the footwear or clothing industry. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll start my own business.

Categories: Fashion Design Footwear Design & Development Los Angeles Campus Alumni Industry Partnerships