The summer before my senior year of high school, I attended the ‘Summer 2021 - Portfolio class at Parsons Paris.

This month long course focused on creating a tailored project for a specific chosen major.
Because my main interests were fashion business and fashion styling, my initial task was defining a relevant project.

Being in Paris when the ‘Gabrielle Chanel - Fashion Manifesto’ exhibition and the ‘Visionaire’ magazine exhibition took place, I chose to create an editorial project for a ‘Visionaire’ magazine issue dedicated to Chanel’s work, with pertinence.

At Parsons I developed Adobe Indesign Skills to create my first editorial project, designing a 44 page ‘Visionaire’ magazine, I worked both on content, and layout design. Content wise, I extensively researched, edited and selected texts and visuals. Design wise, I defined a custom format for the magazine, like ‘Visionaire’ would do, based onthe Chanel N°5 perfume packaging, thus titled ‘Chanel (issue) N°5’. Afterwards, I styled, set up, and shot a fun Chanel inspired editorial with my friends.

Looking back, I realize that I learned the most about myself during my summer in Paris. I found clarity in the unfamiliar ane discovered a kind of independence that only comes from stepping outside of what I knew. Most importantly, I realized that I have a rare ability for sustained concentration, which allowed me to deliver a well developed, cohesive proposal in a short time. It was because I was doing what I truly loved. Every aspect felt natural and exhilarating.

My french teacher Monica (who always smelled like cigarettes) told me I had a mature aesthetic sense and that I'd do great as a Fashion Business major :)

Living in Paris alone was the most incredible experience of my life. I loved it so much that as soon as I got back home, I had a new mindset...confident that attending university for fashion would be my next goal.