Undergraduate /
FIT Admissions Essay - Undergraduate - Fashion Design [2]
PROMPT: What makes you a perfect candidate for FIT?
Why are you interested in the major you are applying to?
I feel for the last two years of my life, I have been a colorful human bullet train, headed directly towards your Manhattan campus. Not a day has gone by without me fantasizing about what life could be like studying at FIT. I have obsessed over ideas of what each semester would bring me, what projects would be assigned to me, what equipment and software I would be allowed to create with, what opinions professors might hold of my work, and what life I could build for myself through higher education at FIT. This dream has motivated me to create as much as physically possible, starting all the way back in 2021.
I remember the day everything fell into place: October 16th, 2021. This was the day of my first runway show, the Sound and Style Fashion Ball. I debuted a four-look capsule collection, where each garment was hand-dyed and painted by me. The technical work was grueling for an inexperienced fifteen-year-old Chloie, who sewed all the way up until the night before the show. But the feeling of being backstage with my peers, the rousing, nail-biting, nervous energy minutes before the show, and the crowd of high-fives and excited cheers that formed after the show was over. All these emotions, in addition to the recognition of my artistry by other, older creatives I look up to; Had me instantly hooked. After that day in October, I hit the ground running. I knew if I wanted this to be my life, I needed to lay a solid foundation of work beforehand. I completed two more seasons on the Sound and Style runway, and more recently, Omaha Fashion Week's August 2023 runway show. With each season I relit my fuse and sent myself on a mission to create better than before, both conceptually and technically. I participated in FCCLA's Fashion Design Star Event, with my project taking me all the way to the National Conference in Denver this summer. There, I won a silver medal and felt like I had finally proven I have what it takes to accomplish my dreams.
When I envision my future in fashion, the landscape of my dreams looks nothing like what most would expect. I do not initially picture the white flashes at the end of the runway, nor plane rides to Paris or Milan for fashion week, nor my name emboldened, next to the word "Creative", and next to that, "Director". Of course, I want those experiences and that title as much as the next young, ambitious designer. But that particular dream is heavily romanticized and unrealistic, and truly not my final goal. Instead, I hope one day I find myself alone at my desk, staring up at my dress form, covered in cuts of muslin and lines of chalk. I see the hours of work ahead of me, I see the number of bobbins filled and empty, and I see the clock on my wall, telling me I'm insane for staying up that late. That is my end goal and my true calling. It is within this setting, in my dreams and my current reality, that I find my rawest inner peace. I have found nothing in my life thus far that brings me the same joy I feel when I am creating.
These are all reasons why I believe I am a great candidate for FIT. I live and breathe this art. I have spent most of my high school experience working towards a college experience at FIT. I believe in your mission of positively impacting the world with fashion, and I want to make your mission, my mission. I have been extremely blessed to experience this positive impact firsthand, as well as witness how fashion can create a beautiful, encouraging, safe space for others. Fashion has significantly improved my life and given me purpose. It is my only hope to continue my education at FIT, and continue pursuing the things I love most.
