Rochelle Smallwood

After obtaining my Associates of Art degree from The University of Alaska Southeast and my Masters of Fashion Design I plan to become a fashion designer. I plan to open my own business where my original fashion designs will be sold. All clothing will be made in Alaska and I will provide parents with child-friendly jobs where they can work from home or at the stores with their children. My clothing will not be limited to a certain age or size. I want to target all genders, ages, and sizes. My fashion shows will reflect this, having a range of models from all walks of life.

After I graduate from The University of Alaska Southeast with my Associates in Art degree I plan to further my education in London, England at Central Saint Martens and pursue my Masters in Fashion Design. At CSM I will gain the skills I need in order to bring my clothing business to life, such as patternmaking, sewing, draping, marketing, business, and publicity as CSM is the only school where their MFA students get to display their works on the official London Fashion Week schedule. I will gain connections, skills, and the knowledge I need in order to open my own clothing business with my own unique label.

I love any and all forms of art. I love listening to music from the 60's, music is one of my greatest influences in art, when I listen to it the music just flows through me and how I feel when listening to it is translated into my artwork. I love watching old films because you can get a sense of what the world was like at that time through so many different people’s eyes and minds. I love thrift shopping for unusual clothing there is so much that is vintage, or handmade, or just altogether out of this world that it really gets my creative juices flowing for design, I often buy pieces that have certain aspects that I like and then take it home and alter it either by sewing it into something new of or dying the fabric and giving it another life. I love color, I hand dye and paint many of my clothes and fabrics, it feels so wonderful when I can put my personal stamp on it and bring my vision to life exactly how I see it in my mind. I also love photography, I'm that one person that always has their camera with them and snaps photos at everything. I love candid photography as well as creating stories through self-portraiture. I also love spending time with my daughter, we love to travel, read, swim, adventure, and of course make art together!