Jane Drews is a Senior Fashion Design student in the FDM program at Illinois State University. Jane prides herself in her passion for fashion design, women empowerment and femininity, and love for our beautiful environment. When Jane isn’t working hard to develop her designs for the fashion show and focusing on her fashion studies, she interns for Kohls Design It! Lab. Jane puts her all into all that she does, and it shows in her work. That’s enough from us, we will let Jane tell you the rest.
Her Campus: Have you always been a fashion major?
Jane: Yes! I went into college either wanting to major in Fashion Merchandising or Art (Ceramics) and I ended up starting in Fashion Merchandising and eventually switching to the Design sequence within my major sophomore year.
Her Campus: What inspires you to do the work you do?
Jane: I gain a great deal of my inspiration from the people around me, especially my friends and family. I like to think of my collection this year as being a celebration of femininity, and I think my close gal friends are totally a driving force for that. I also am incredibly influenced by my environment, and a lot of what I do is influenced by the weather, nature, and the changing of season.
Her Campus: Tell us something interesting about yourself that sets you apart from other designers:
Jane: My ultimate goal in working in the fashion industry in the future does not necessarily revolve around me designing and producing my own line, but rather working for a company that really reflects my ethical and personal beliefs, and doing something for the greater good as an essential element of their business model.
Her Campus: Other than designing for the fashion show, what other projects are you working on right now?
Jane: In my vast amount of spare time (kidding of course), I like to embroider. It is a good calming activity to do while watching tv or doing readings for school, so I always have a couple small projects going on, mostly gifts for family and things like that.
Her Campus: What’s your favorite part about the FDM program?
Jane: The fact that we got new industrial sewing machines in the design lab is in an incredible addition to the program and I am so grateful for that. On top of that, I have had such an amazing experience with the FDM faculty and I feel that they are all incredibly motivated to encourage us to be our most successful selves when we leave college.
Her Campus: What are your plans after college?
Jane: I am doing an internship in the Kohl’s Design It! Lab within the Discovery World museum in Milwaukee, where I will be teaching Fashion Design summer camps as well as doing some of my own individual projects. After that, I have no idea! The world is my oyster, but there is a lot of unknown out there for me right now that is daunting to think about.
Her Campus: As far as your collection for the 2017 fashion show, can you give us an idea of what we can expect?
Jane: Like I said before, I like to think of my collection as a celebration of femininity. It plays with whimsical styles, updated for the modern sophisticated woman. The woman I design for is someone I would like to be friends with. She is serious and driven, but also in touch with nature and her sense of wonder about life and of the world around her. The collection will also feature some of my hand-embroidered work, which is really exciting for me to start to showcase.
Her Campus: Thank you Jane, we look forward to seeing your collection at the show! Goodluck to you and your future in fashion.
Tickets for the Illinois State Fashion Show go on sale March 20th at the Braden Box Office, or online at Ticketmaster.com. The Show is April 13th with light refreshments at 5 P.M. and a show starting time of 7 P.M.