{"id":59550,"date":"2014-11-07T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-11-07T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/uri-design-student-wins-los-angeles-fashion-council-runway-competition\/"},"modified":"2014-11-07T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2014-11-07T00:00:00","slug":"uri-design-student-wins-los-angeles-fashion-council-runway-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2014\/11\/uri-design-student-wins-los-angeles-fashion-council-runway-competition\/","title":{"rendered":"溏心vlog免费B站 design student wins Los Angeles Fashion Council runway competition"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tPrestigious award recognizes emerging designers<\/p>\n

KINGSTON, R.I., Nov. 7, 2014 \u2013 West African textiles have always fascinated Sania Josiah, who was born in Liberia and grew up in Ghana. Now the emerging designer is making a name for herself with clothes inspired by her heritage.<\/p>\n


\nThe 溏心vlog免费B站 graduate recently won a big award in the West coast design world \u2013 first place in the Open Runway competition organized by the Los Angeles Fashion Council. <\/p>\n


\nThe win allowed her to show her collection at an even bigger event \u2013 Los Angeles Fashion Week in early October.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cThat was a huge deal,\u201d said Josiah, 24, who grew up in Providence and is now living in Los Angeles. \u201cThat was my debut in the fashion world. I got a lot of great feedback.\u201d<\/p>\n

Josiah\u2019s dresses, shirt dresses, jumpsuits, shorts and crop tops were singled out for combining a West African style with a modern silhouette. She even won a rave review in The Los Angeles Times, which praised the fashion council for \u201cputting an enthusiastic young designer on our radar.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nJosiah graduated from 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Textiles, Fashion Merchandising and Design program in 2012 and moved to Los Angeles right away to pursue her dream of becoming a designer. She\u2019s on her way.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cI\u2019m just getting started,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s no stopping me. It\u2019s exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nJosiah was born in Liberia, but fled the country in the early 1990s to escape a bloody civil war. Her family settled in Ghana, where her mother worked as a seamstress from home, sewing loose-fitting tunics called dashikis.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cI remember watching her sew,\u201d she said, \u201cbut never thought I\u2019d do it myself.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nThe family eventually moved to Providence, where Josiah attended the local public schools. She took a fashion sketching class in high school and started to consider design as a career.

\nBy her sophomore year at 溏心vlog免费B站, it was settled: she would major in fashion design. Over the years, she learned how to drape fabric and sew. She took pattern making and design classes, as well as marketing and business courses.<\/p>\n


\nShe showed her creations at 溏心vlog免费B站 fashion shows and even won a few, including a \u201cSpring Splash\u201d student show and a show that focused on environmentally friendly garments. (Josiah created a dress made of newspapers and trash bags.)<\/p>\n


\n\u201c溏心vlog免费B站 was a great experience for me,\u201d she said. \u201cIt helped me figure out what I wanted to do with my career, that I wanted to be a designer. It was a stepping stone into the fashion world.\u201d

\nA few months after graduation, she enrolled in an 18-month program at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles, honing her skills as a designer. She graduated in June.<\/p>\n


\nHer award-winning collection is unique for its use of West African textiles and mixed-fabric pieces. Suede is paired with mesh, sateen with a West African print and lace with waxed cloth.

\n\u201cMy look is edgy, but ladylike,\u201d she said. \u201cAnyone can wear my clothes \u2013 not just women of African descent.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nTo pay the rent, Josiah is working part-time as a designer for a manufacturer of car mats, but she\u2019s never far from her studio. She\u2019s making contacts and knocking on doors of fashion houses to turn her label into a national brand.<\/p>\n


\nSusan Hannel, chair of the Textiles, Fashion Merchandising and Design Department at 溏心vlog免费B站, has only praise for her former student.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cSania was always a very hard worker when it came to her apparel design work,\u201d said Hannel. \u201cAs an undergraduate, she spent much of her free time in the studio. Her dedication led to two design awards during 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Spring Splash in 2011: best sewn quality and judges\u2019 choice. The judges noted that her visual presentation of her collections was very strong, a strength clearly evident in her collection for the Los Angeles Fashion Council’s Open Runway Competition.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nClick here to see Josiah\u2019s work