The Enduring Appeal of Acquired Style: College, Fashion, and the Creation of a Personal Aesthetic
While a formal college education isn't always a prerequisite for success in the fashion industry, many influential designers have benefited from higher education, often in fields beyond fashion itself. These designers have built globally recognized brands, generating substantial annual sales and influencing the wardrobes of celebrities and everyday individuals alike. Their signature styles are instantly recognizable, and their contributions have been acknowledged through design awards and philanthropic honors. This article explores the paths of various notable figures in the fashion world, examining their college experiences and the diverse backgrounds that shaped their creative visions. It also delves into the concept of "acquired style," using the example of fashion influencer Brigette Pheloung, known as Acquired Style, to illustrate how individuals cultivate their unique personal aesthetics.
From Academia to Atelier: The Educational Journeys of Fashion Designers
Many successful fashion designers have a background in higher education, which has helped them to reach the heights of the fashion industry.
Ralph Lauren: After a brief stint in the Army, Ralph Lauren began designing men’s neckties in a small space in the Empire State Building. Lauren has become the first American designer awarded an Honorary Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. “I don’t design clothes,” Lauren once said. “I design dreams.”
Miuccia Prada: With a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Milan, Miuccia Prada initially desired a career in politics. She later went into the family business, designing clothes and accessories for women. The Prada Group raised more than $2 billion when it went public in Hong Kong as Prada SpA in 2011. “It’s horrible when people are only interested in buying labels,” she once said, “because it doesn’t bring them the happiness they think it will.”
Tom Ford: Tom Ford studied interior architecture at Parsons after transferring from NYU. Following his graduation in 1986, he designed at Cathy Hardwick and Perry Ellis. He later worked as creative director for Gucci, where he resuscitated the luxury brand aesthetically and financially from 1994 to 2004, before launching his own brand. In 2023, he sold his Tom Ford brand to Estee Lauder Companies. Ford's design hallmark in menswear and womenswear is sexy sophistication. “There’s a different type of comfort that comes from knowing you are putting your best foot forward,” he once said.
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Tory Burch: After earning her college degree in art history, Burch entered the fashion world, working in nondesign communication roles for minimalist sportswear designer Zoran Ladicorbic and later design luminaries such as Ralph Lauren and Vera Wang. When she began to design, her early specialties were tunics and ballet flats, and an appearance on “Oprah” in 2005 catapulted her to fame. Her circular double “T” logo distinguishes her footwear, handbag and accessories collections. "It's very passe to think women want to spend a fortune on clothes," she once said.
Zang Toi: Zang Toi is known for elegant and expertly tailored womenswear, particularly show-stopping special occasion looks inspired by his Chinese heritage. He opened his New York City atelier in 1989, quickly caught the attention of Vogue editor Anna Wintour, and went on to win design awards and develop a celebrity clientele across a wide demographic range. “As a boy growing up, I always loved to draw and sketch," he once said. "Fashion was the last thing that was on my mind.”
Tracy Reese: In high school, Tracy Reese attended a summer program at Parsons and later, as a student there, completed an accelerated program in 1984. She worked with French designer Martine Sitbon and Perry Ellis in the 1980s. In the 1990s, her Tracy Reese women’s line became popular for its pretty and wearable dresses. After 30 years in New York, she moved back to Detroit in 2019 to launch Hope for Flowers by Tracy Reese, which offers smaller collections in sustainable textiles along with free art-engagement programs for people of all ages.
Michael Kors: Michael Kors built an empire of menswear, womenswear, fragrances and accessories that generated nearly $4 billion worldwide in fiscal year ending April 2023. He quit FIT and designed a collection that Bergdorf Goodman sold, and in 2014 became a billionaire for a time. From 1997 to 2004, he served stints as designer and creative director at premiere French fashion house Celine. “I design for women and men who need clothing and accessories that can keep up with their fast-paced lives and make them feel like their best selves,” Kors says.
Dana Buchman: During the 1980s and '90s, Dana Buchman was a leading influence on women’s fashion with contemporary, elegant professional styles. She was elected to Phi Beta Kappa at Brown and had a stint at Rhode Island School of Design as a President’s Fellow. Buchman worked as a creative leader at Ellen Tracy in 1982 after earning an advanced degree in fashion at Saint Martins. She designed knitwear at Liz Claiborne and launched her own brand in 1987. Buchman was among the first major designers to include cuts for petites and women up to size 24. She discontinued her main brand in 2008 and designed strictly for Kohl’s until 2020. Buchman once said of the woman she designed for: “She has a lot going on in her life, and she wants to look put together."
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Ralph Rucci: After graduating from FIT - he earlier studied literature and philosophy at Temple - he apprenticed with Halston before launching his own brand in 1981. Economic recession almost tanked his company in 1987, and in 1994 he renamed it Chado Ralph Rucci in homage to the Japanese tea ceremony that reflects values such as purity and harmony. Rucci fuses unique design and construction techniques to create womenswear that is architecturally precise, luxurious and understated. In 2002, he became the first American to be invited by the prestigious Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture Francaise to show a haute couture collection in Paris on the official calendar under his own name.
Manolo Blahnik: Manolo Blahnik, renowned for his luxury footwear, first fashioned shoes from candy wrappers for lizards that roamed the banana plantation on which he grew up. He initially studied international law in college, then changed to literature and architecture. He also studied stage set design at the Louvre Art School, now Ecole du Louvre. He began to design shoes professionally after jewelry designer Paloma Picasso introduced him in 1969 to fashion legend Diana Vreeland, who looked at his costume sketches and loved his shoe concepts. In the 1980s, Blahnik began designing runway footwear collections for top American fashion designers, and his creations are now sold worldwide.
Stella McCartney: Stella McCartney worked at the Christian Lacroix couture house, British Vogue and Chloe before launching her own brand in 2001, going on to dress British Olympics teams and many celebrities. McCartney, who uses no leather or fur, has introduced a vegan perfume, eco-friendly eyewear, a vegan football boot and cruelty-free vegan skincare over the years. She’s known for pioneering sustainable materials in fashion such as regenerative cotton and mycelium, and has won many design and humanitarian awards.
Christian Siriano: While studying at American InterContinental, Christian Siriano apprenticed with legendary designers Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood. After graduating, he moved to New York, interning with Marc Jacobs while designing wedding gowns and working as a makeup artist. He won the Project Runway finale in March 2008 and that September debuted his womenswear label at New York Fashion Week. "I just think it's great to show a gown that's $8,000 and a shoe that's like, $25 - but still look fabulous together," he once said.
Marc Jacobs: One of his early mentors was famed designer Perry Ellis, whom Jacobs met while attending the High School of Art and Design in New York and working at an upscale boutique. In 1987, Jacobs was the youngest designer to win the Council of Fashion Designers of America’s Perry Ellis Award for New Fashion Talent. He later worked at Perry Ellis as vice president of women’s design before launching his own brand and, in addition, later worked at Louis Vuitton as creative director. "Clothes mean nothing until someone lives in them," he once said.
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Diane von Furstenberg: She initially became popular for pretty and comfortable silk jersey dresses, which she first made while apprenticing at a textile manufacturer in Italy. She studied economics in college, which may have come in handy when expanding her global fashion brand and launching other businesses. “Confidence. If you have it,” she once said, “you can make anything look good.”
Jimmy Choo: He went on to study shoe design at Cordwainers, now the London College of Fashion. Choo later began designing custom footwear for private clients, opening his first shop in 1986 in London. Two years later, he debuted a collection at London Fashion Week and was featured in an eight-page spread in British Vogue - which led to Vogue hiring him to create shoes for photo shoots. After several brand launches and ownership changes over the years, he launched another shoe line in 2017 bearing his birth name - Zhou Yang Jie - and in 2021 established the JCA London Fashion Academy for emerging designers.
Vera Wang: Wang, who studied art history, began in fashion as an editor at Vogue for a decade. She later was one of Ralph Lauren’s design directors before launching her own brand, eventually expanding into everyday womenswear, perfumes, beauty products and home goods. “I can’t say it’s been easy,” she once said. “But I’ve grown from the challenges, and I keep learning. The day I stop learning is probably the day I’ll just stop.”
Oscar de la Renta: One of the most venerated designers international.
The "Carolyn Effect" and the Power of Minimalist Style
Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, despite her untimely death in 1999, has remained a fashion icon, celebrated for her understated elegance and minimalist style. She avoided logos, rarely wore jewelry, and favored a neutral closet, often dressing in all black or pairing jeans with neutrals and a long coat. Her narrow glasses and tortoise shell headbands became signature elements of her look.
Bessette's style stands in stark contrast to the overt glitz and glam of the 1990s and the logo-driven trends of modern celebrity culture. Her "old money" aesthetic, characterized by simple, well-worn clothes, emphasizes personal composure and elegance over fleeting trends and status symbols. This enduring appeal has led to a resurgence of interest in her style, dubbed "The Carolyn Effect," with many women emulating her classic and understated look.
The public obsession with Carolyn Bessette Kennedy shaped the production of Love Story. When initial photos of the cast and costuming were released there was public outcry. Everyone had an opinion as to what Carolyn Bessette Kennedy would wear and would not wear. After her untimely death in 1999, she became a figment of the American collective imagination. Her way of dressing herself became something that everyone had an opinion on, whether they knew her or not. The show producers and closet department have had to go to great lengths to appease the fans of Bessette. Private collections were borrowed from, archival clothing was put together and every minute detail of every outfit was dissected to be the most accurate it could be. Apparently the crew obtained “about a hundred” of the style of jeans that Bessette would wear: Levi’s 517 Bootcut Jeans, according to Rudy Mace, a costume designer who worked on Love Story.
Acquired Style: Curating a Personal Aesthetic in the Digital Age
Brigette Pheloung, known as Acquired Style, is a fashion influencer who embodies the idea of cultivating a personal aesthetic. After graduating in 2019, she worked as an e-commerce coordinator at Bergdorf Goodman before pursuing social media full-time. Through her platform, Pheloung shares her insights on fashion and style, guiding her followers in curating their own unique looks.
Pheloung's approach emphasizes the idea of an "acquired" style, suggesting that personal taste is not innate but rather developed through learning, experience, and conscious choices. Her years of experience in the fashion industry provide her with a wealth of knowledge to share, inspiring her followers to experiment and refine their individual styles.
Fashion Education and TESOL: Unexpected Connections
While seemingly disparate, the fields of fashion and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) share a common thread: the importance of understanding and adapting to diverse cultural contexts. Just as fashion designers draw inspiration from various cultures and create designs that resonate with global audiences, TESOL professionals must be sensitive to the cultural backgrounds of their students and tailor their teaching methods accordingly.
TESOL programs emphasize the development of intellectual competencies, affective skills, and humanistic values necessary for effective teaching and leadership in multicultural environments. These skills are also valuable in the fashion industry, where designers must be able to communicate their vision effectively, collaborate with diverse teams, and navigate the complexities of a global market.
Her Campus Media and College Fashionista: Empowering College Women
Her Campus Media's acquisition of College Fashionista highlights the growing importance of empowering college women in the fashion and media industries. College Fashionista, founded in 2009, has built a strong community of college-aged fashion and beauty influencers, providing them with education, training, and skill-building opportunities.
Her Campus Media aims to further strengthen its reach and ownership of the college audience and continue to serve and support college women and equip them to own their futures and live out their ambitions.
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