Fashion design students dream big

Julia Passafiume sits at her desk, bent closely to the work before her. Letting out a sigh of relief, she puts the finishing touches on her latest work of art and sets it aside, only to place another half-completed sketch before her.

Passafiume is a freshman fashion design major at Parsons, The New School for Design. She is up to her eyeballs in art projects.

And she's not the only one.

As one of the biggest fashion cities in the world, New York is home to a number of rising fashion designers. But the runway is not the only place that these garment connoisseurs rise to success. The design world is a career where schools such as Parsons and Tisch could provide training.

NYU alumna Kara Harmon received her Master of Fine Arts in costume design from Tisch in 2009. As a student, Harmon took a number of classes in subjects like figure drawing, watercolor, costume construction and sewing skills.

"They basically helped you build your mind as a designer," Harmon said.

Today, Harmon is working on the Broadway musical "Memphis," assisting the costume designer with swatching, cast fittings, interpreting sketches and problem solving.

"At the moment, I'm learning a lot still by assisting and I'd like to continue doing that," Harmon said.

Another NYU alumna, Lara de Bruijn, also received her M.F.A. in costume design from Tisch in 2009.

"It's very intense," Bruijn said of Tisch's program. "Our teachers are working professionals and they've shown us the best of the best."

Bruijn has also had a steady stream of work since her graduation from NYU. She spent her summer designing for the Peterborough Players professional theater group in New Hampshire. She's currently working on the College of New Rochelle's production of "Dreamgirls" as well as La MaMa's production of "The Traveling Players."

Bruijn landed all of these jobs through connections she made during her time at NYU.

"It's a program that really has fostered that kind of connection," Bruijn said. "I think that's really exciting."

Despite the fact that both costume and fashion designers create garments, Bruijn said that the two arts are completely different.

"Costume design is what I do to tell the story," Bruijn said. "It's specific to character, not to what people will wear or people will buy."

Passafiume agrees. "A lot of people think that you're just drawing and making pretty clothes" as a fashion design major, she said. "But you're learning the ins and outs of the industry. It's totally different than being at NYU for costume design."

Samantha Shammas is a fellow fashion design freshman at Parsons. The two students are currently immersed in core art classes and will begin garment construction next year. After graduation, both girls are optimistic about their professional futures.

"The usual course for a newly graduated fashion major is probably working for a designer on a very low level," Shammas said.

Passafiume said: "Obviously it's everyone's goal to become the next house of Versace. But it's basically about being established and doing something you love everyday."

Despite their differences, current fashion and costume design students, respectively, at Parsons and NYU both toil through their classes each day with the goal of bringing their art to the public eye.

And the happiness of Bruijn suggests their hard work is worth all the trouble:

"It's great. I get to do everyday what I love doing. It found me and I'm doing it."