Kent State University is one of the top fashion schools in the USA. Going to school here, you meet so many interesting people with unique personalities that are shown through their personal style and the work that they do. This year, I met this young aspiring fashion designer, Melissa Molnar. Melissa is a 21-year-old fashion design student graduating this May. She has studied abroad in major fashion capitals like New York City and Florence, Italy. Her style is comfortable and effortless. Her work in fashion design is simply beautiful and I wanted to get the inspiration behind her mind of work.
Name: Melissa Molnar
Role: Fashion Design Student
CollegeFashionista: What made you want to go into Fashion Design?
Melissa Molnar: From a young age I have always loved clothing and sewing. My best friend taught me how to hand sew when I was about five years old, and I would make clothing for my American Girl dolls and stuffed animals. Fashion Design just seemed like the route I should go. In about fifth grade I realized that it was what I wanted to go to school for.
CF: What designers inspire you the most?
MM: My favorite designers are Marchesa, Marc Jacobs and Stella McCartney. I love Marchesa because of their incredibly detailed designs. Each of their creations is incredibly unique and perfect. Georgina Chapman is an incredible person also, and has created a wonderful business. Marc Jacobs and Stella McCartney have my favorite children’s wear collections. My passion is children’s clothing, and I find both of their collections to be adorable yet sophisticated. For my senior collection I am currently working on, I studied their collections closely to see what they used to make their children’s wear so successful.
CF: What is your latest project that you are working on?
MM: The project I am currently working on is my senior collection. My collection is for children ages three to five and is inspired by a child’s imagination. The whole point of my collection is to incorporate the whimsical way children play by incorporating details of dragons, wizards and knights in clothing. They are subtle details, which are something that a child would look at and immediately think it was cool that they could wear clothes with such unique features. It is a nine-look collection with about 25 pieces.
CF: What are your plans with Fashion after college?
MM: My plans after college are to relocate somewhere out west. I would love to work in Seattle for Nordstrom, or end up in Colorado and work for an outerwear company. I am hoping after I complete my collection I can use that to showcase the talents I have in designing children’s clothing. I also have experience with men’s clothing and women’s clothing, and would love to also work with a company that focuses on those aspects of design.
Learn More: Melissa will be finishing her last semester at KSU. Keep an eye out for her clothing lines in the future!
