Alumni

Online Learning Student Launches Sustainable Summer Collection

As a young girl, Italia Hannaway collected fashion magazines and loved to draw. An alumna of Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose, California, Italia later attended FIDM and received an A.A. degree in Fashion Design in 2019. “FIDM has guided my creativity and I began my career shortly after graduating as a sustainable designer with a focus on zero waste patternmaking and a circular design process,” said Italia, who designs and operates the Italia A Collection in Northern California’s Bay Area. In 2020, she entered the Merchandise & Marketing eLearning program and is earning her Professional Designation Degree this year. We recently chatted with Italia about her new collection, online learning, and sustainability.

What were some of the most valuable lessons you learned in the Fashion Design program at FIDM? Collaborating with others who are creative and learning that the value of making connections broadens your creativity. This is a valuable lesson because life is all about partnerships and creating a connection. I think being open to what life brings and building those connections for a creative career in fashion design is important.

What led you to continue with a Professional Designation degree in Merchandising & Marketing? I was interested in pursuing my education in design with the balance of learning a business acumen. A successful brand not only is creative, but it needs to have a marketing strategy. As a designer, merchandising your product assortment and tracking sales for profit is another important skill to be a successful entrepreneur.

What has it been like online learning? At first, I thought that remote learning might be difficult, but the instructors and resources offered at FIDM make learning online engaging, informative, and relevant. I have gained a greater knowledge in the business of design by taking the Merchandising & Marketing program.

Tell us about your new collection and its sustainable aspects: I wanted to create a collection for summer that was modern and glamorous. I used fabrics that are entirely sustainable from the wood pulp of the eucalyptus tree called TENCEL™. This textile was used throughout the collection in a solid knit and a woven print. The sustainable aspects of this year's collection is designing circular fashion, which means all elements of the design process are responsibly designed, produced, and manufactured.

I designed a zero waste cut-out dress from the knit TENCEL™ and a zero waste bandeau with a low waste pair of joggers using sustainable elastic. Also, I love to use geometric shapes in my print designs and part of the collection is polka dots. The collection was manufactured locally in San Francisco. I collaborated with Bay Area photographer Christopher Dobey, to capture the vision of the collection.

How did your current program help you launch your online store? The Merchandising & Marketing program helped me to build my eCommerce site and I implemented the course to launch my online store.

What are your ultimate goals for your brand? Having investors to promote my brand financially, retail distribution in brick and mortar stores, attending LA Fashion Week and New York Fashion Week, and partnerships with sustainable designers and continued collaborations that I am so grateful for.

Anything else you'd like to share? On July 10, 2021, I will be showcasing my Sustainable Glamour S/21 collection on the runway at Charles Krug Winery in Napa Valley. I am excited to collaborate with other emerging designers and Ayana Gordan of Ang Model Management, who is also an alum of FIDM.