Fairfax H.S. Brings On Celebrity Designer Pol' Atteu To Teach Fashion Design and Merchandising

For celebrity haute couture designer and TV personality Pol’ Atteu, 2020 marks his first year teaching at Fairfax Senior High School. He was brought on to create the new fashion and design pathway for Career & Technical Education (CTE) intended to prepare high school students to pursue careers in fashion, design, and merchandising.

Credentialed in six different categories all related to the business, finance, and entertainment industries, Atteu teaches Fashion Design and Merchandising to students in all grade levels at Fairfax High. By tapping into their creative gifts and allowing them to explore the world of fashion and design, he is creating a pathway to give the students inspiration. His program has grown from 120 to 210 students.

Atteu also created the Fairfax FIDM Fashion Club and has grown the membership from zero to 150 members in just under one month. Club members and students are participating in their first ever in-person Halloween Fashion Costume Party on October 25, 2020. The event will be held on campus outdoors at Fairfax High, with social distancing and limited attendance for safety. With the help of FIDM College Representative Ally Rodriguez and combined industry professionals, the goal is to inspire, educate, and propel the students to soar to new fashion heights.

“The Halloween Fashion Costume Party has been quite fun putting together with this being our first event from the Fairfax FIDM Fashion Club members,” said Atteu.

“Everyone has been great! We have students designing the flyer and invitations, organizing the day with all kinds of activities. We will have several industry professionals hosting workshops, including myself, as the advisor, fashion stylist, Valerie Pineda, and Hollywood costumer, Shon LeBlanc, giving us the ins and outs and tips within their industry careers.”

A schedule of the day’s events also include mannequin dressing challenges, performances by musical rap artists, a Style-Off Fashion Costume competition, and DIY mask decorating and donations. FIDM is setting up a booth and supplying gift-bags. Throughout the day, they will be livestreaming on Facebook and Zoom to audiences worldwide. As a special treat, they will also be filming behind the scenes for the Amazon Prime TV show, Gown and Out in Beverly Hills.

The students and FIDM Fashion Club members have been working on this since school started six weeks ago. They’ve held weekly meetings on Zoom and individual tasks have been assigned to different students to carry out. They’ve organized a “Style-Off Contest” for the event where students will be challenged to style a mannequin, and a winner will be chosen.

“It’s been great to see everyone come together and work on something fun, since most are in quarantine at home due to the pandemic,” said Atteu.

Another highlight of the event will be a raffle for a chance to shadow Valerie Pineda in her styling showroom, for a day-in-the-life of a fashion stylist. Pineda is currently the head stylist on the TV show America’s Next Investment, and has graciously offered this opportunity for a student to shadow her on set.