The Fashion Design program at Otis College trains students in all aspects of the design process, offering a fully accredited BFA degree. Working with professional mentors, students learn far more than drawing, sewing, and pattern-making skills: they experience all facets of the industry, and learn to meet deadlines with creativity and self-discipline.

This year, Maggie Sottero Designs, a global leader in the bridal industry, is partnering with Otis College of Art and Design as a 2023-2024 mentor in the undergraduate Fashion Design program. As a mentor, Maggie Sottero designers are working with Otis College juniors and seniors on two different projects centred on sustainability: a core value of both institutions. For the projects, Maggie Sottero’s CEO and creative director Kelly Midgley, designer and sustainability director Patricia DeLaunay (an Otis College ’04 BFA Fashion Design alumna), and lead designer Edric Woo have tasked the students with reconstructing Maggie Sottero dresses. The juniors’ creative prompt is to reimagine bridesmaid dresses for the bridal party of the “near future,” creating simple but well-crafted upcycles of stock gowns that can be worn for the wedding weekend, wedding day, and beyond. Likewise, the seniors are challenged to recreate stock Maggie Sottero wedding dresses into modern and new gowns by reimagining shape, proportion, and fabric remnants. Both projects upend the typical, though unsustainable, outcome of a bridesmaid or bridal gown being used for only the wedding day.

“This partnership carries a profound personal significance,” shares Kelly Midgley. “Not only is our global sustainability director an alum of this institution, but at Maggie Sottero Designs, we also take immense pride in our commitment to inspiring the next generation of designers to stand with us in our dedicated sustainability mission.” In addition to Maggie Sottero Designers, Otis Fashion Design mentors for the 2023-2024 academic year include Amiri, Revolve, J. Crew, Marcus Clayton, Rod Beattie for BLEU, Blizzard Entertainment, and Katherine Ross in a special project with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s Wear LACMA project. These projects culminate in the Annual Fashion Show at Otis College, which takes place during the College’s O-Launch exhibition weekend in May.