Captured by Teresa Sang, @zsang_pek on Instagram
Written by Sarina Matson, @sarina.bean on Instagram
Chicago native Mia Campolo ‘19 is an FSAD senior and 4th level designer for CFC. “I have been waiting to show my senior collection for 4 years!” Mia tells us. Throughout her years in CFC has given her the opportunity to become more familiar with garment construction, a skill that will allow her to create more feasible sketches for brands she works for in the future. Her Instagram (@miacampoloportfolio) showcases her incredible fashion illustrations— we can only imagine what her collection has in store!
Captured by Teresa Sang, @zsang_pek on Instagram
Mia originally became interested in fashion design when confronted with the problem of finding clothes for herself that fit short women, without having to go to the kids section. Since coming to Cornell, Mia has tried to use her designs to experiment with the unexpected---pairing together untraditional patterns and colors. Another constant throughout her work, which she just realized after looking back through her past designs, are hard, divulging lines that interrupt and challenge the onlooker.
Captured by Teresa Sang, @zsang_pek on IG
Mia’s upcoming CFC collection is inspired by the history of sexism in the production of mens and womens clothing. When asked about her inspiration, she states that the example that prompted her exploration of the topic is how womenswear traditionally was never made with pockets.
The reasoning behind this is to due to men not wanting women to be able to carry their own money, weapons, identification, etc. Thus, an expectation was set that a woman could never go anywhere on their own without a man. With this collection she intends to push the meaning of gender by mixing masculinity and femininity into womenswear. This idea comes to play in her designs through the combination of lapels and suit-derived elements with bloomers and lingerie.
Mia says that some of her original ideas for the collection were harder to execute than expected going from 2D sketches to the actual 3D garment and it is a challenge to make all of the pieces in the collection seem cohesive. However, even though there’s a lot of stress, Mia has been planning this specific collection since junior year and has been looking up to CFC seniors since the beginning of her college career. Mia is sad that this will be her last show with CFC but she’s excited to see all of her hard work come together and be seen by all of her family and friends.
Written by Sarina Matson, @sarina.bean on Instagram
See more of Mia’s work here and follow her portfolio on Instagram: @miacampoloportfolio