Wider Horizons

For newly minted designer Shelly Court, the road from Raymond, Alta. to the bright lights of the fashionshelly court industry ran straight north, through the Fashion Design and Merchandising program at Lethbridge College.

Even before she graduated in April, this inspired young woman had already been celebrated in Atlanta and attended a photo shoot in New York; she has since launched her career with a clear direction of what she wants to achieve. Shelly believes fashion should be fun: she incorporates strong, bright colours, stripes and bold prints into her designs, and likes to include something different to make each one unique. Her fun-and-funky designs reflect her personality.

Despite great early reviews, Shelly wasn’t always headed for a career in fashion. She graduated from the two-year Interior Design program at Lethbridge College in 2003 and set about designing kitchens in Calgary and Lethbridge for two years before considering Lethbridge College’s FDM program as a way to learn sewing.

“I really just started in the fashion-design program because I wanted to learn to sew, then I ended up loving it,” she says.

First-year courses in both design and merchandising are important to understanding the fashion industry, Shelly says. In the second year the design stream included courses in haute couture, costuming and tailoring.

The annual end-of-year fashion show featured the collections of the second year design students; she sold many of her custom designs. It was at this event Shelly realized she could have a career in fashion design. She credits her success so far to the FDM program.

“It’s a very hands-on program and the instructors are so much fun,” says Shelly. “They want you to be successful and they push you to try your hardest and to really be creative. The program gives you a realistic look at what the industry is actually going to be like. I learned such an amazing amount from beginning to end.”

At the end of her first year, Shelly won a three month, paid internship with Goody Products, Inc. She was one of 10 finalists chosen from design students across Canada and the U.S. in the Create i|m accessories design competition. At a three-day design summit at the Goody corporate and creative headquarters in Atlanta, the talented young designers created prototypes of their winning accessories that were then judged on the basis of originality and commercial viability.

These student designs are the basis of the new i|m fashion collection in development at Goody. The packaging of each product will feature a photo and biography of its designer. Shelly’s designs, work ethic and collaborative attitude impressed the judges.

The FDM program prepared Shelly well for work in the industry. During the internship in Atlanta she worked under Goody’s head designer. She researched trends, made presentations, and went on sales calls. She researched sustainable materials and was fascinated to learn products can be made from corn leaves, banana leaves and even milk. She also used her interior design skills to design trade-show booths. At the end of the internship the company offered her a job, but Shelly returned to Lethbridge College to complete her program. Goody invited her call when she finished school.

Vicki Charge, Fashion Design and Merchandising program leader at Lethbridge College, is not surprised by her former student’s success.

“Shelly has so much talent,” says Vicki. “She has a good eye, and is a good designer with a great work ethic.” Shelly’s daughter Charlie was born right before Reading Week this year, but that didn’t stop her from finishing the program and graduating with honours. She then started a home-based business of custom sewing and custom designs. Sketches cover the walls of her office. Two industrial sewing machines stand under the window of her studio, and mannequins wearing her designs line the chartreuse walls. A worktable piled with fabrics dominates the centre of the room.

“I’m working on starting my own line, building up my product in southern Alberta and getting my name out there,” says Shelly.

She plans to move to Toronto in the fall of 2008 with her fiancé and daughter to get established in the industry. She dreams of returning to Alberta as senior designer of her own company.

Vicki, for one, has little doubt she’ll achieve her goal.

“Shelly has always met deadlines and is very organized and deals with projects in a professional manner,” says Vicki. “She is mature and certainly ready to take on the fast-paced apparel industry. She listens carefully to clients and considers the target market for her designs before beginning to design, which will contribute enormously to her success in the field.”

“Shelly is a great ambassador for the program and shows other students what is possible.”

Wider Horizons
Betsy Greenlees- Lethbridge College alumna (Print Journalism 2007)
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