After reaching out to the president, she was immediately drawn and has been a committed member for the past two years, becoming the now Vice President of the club. While she had always been creative, it was not until she became a "Figgie" (which is what they call FIG members) that her passion for design surfaced. Espinoza says that “pursuing fashion was not something I really thought about, since I just saw it as a fun activity. I started to design once I became a Figgie.” After building her line around sirens last year, which was titled, "La Sirene," Espinoza returned this year with a new line of inspiration. Describing her line, she says, “This year I started my La Monarca line. A monarch butterfly was my inspiration for this line. I wanted to capture a butterfly’s beauty, grace, elegance, joy, and transformation.” With mixed textures of fabrics, and tones of black, orange, and gold, her inspiration shone through her clothes as the models walked down the runway.

 

However, even with only five looks in the line, it was no easy task for Espinoza, who had been working on the line since the beginning of winter quarter- six months before the show. And with no formal sewing experience, she had to learn to sew most of the clothes as she went along; “I think that the most challenging part was sewing. Since I have not taken any courses on sewing it has been very challenging to find the proper technique and equipment in order to create the look you want. For example, sometimes the needle and thread would not go through the fabric or I did not know how to accomplish a specific look.” Even after designing a look, she stressed the importance of choosing the right kind of fabric, saying, “Many of the materials I chose were very hard to work with. Some of the material needed specific needles and specific techniques. So I had to do a lot of trial and error.”

 

For Espinoza, designing has and never will be for the recognition or the praise of other people but simply because of her love for fashion. As she describes her feelings of seeing her clothes walk down the runway the night of the fashion show, she says with excitement, how special of an experience it was for her. “I truly have no words to really explain how amazing it felt to see my designs come to life. You put in so much effort and get to see it develop into a work of art, so all that effort is really worth it!”

 

As a sophomore, Espinoza looks forward with positivity as she continues to be an active member of the Fashion Interest Group. Keeping all her designs from the show, she uses it as motivation to continue designing and creating new things. As for aspiring designers, she has nothing but encouragement for all who want to pursue design. “They should just go for it! There is nothing to lose. Worst case scenario you decide that you do not like to design, but you at least tried it! I also advise to have patience and never lose that motivation. I know it can be hard at times, but I think it is always important to focus on the positive.”

 

Profile By: Alicia Shi