High school is a period of time when everyone is trying to find themselves. With an incredible selection of electives to choose from, students at San Luis Obispo High School are given a chance to be part of multiple programs, making the path to finding their passion easier. Junior Sheri Donahue decided to be a part of FHA hero and took classes like Creative Living, Fashion Design and Advance Fashion Merchandise. Expressions talked to Donahue about her passion for fashion.

Expressions: Who is your style icon?

Junior Sheri Donahue: Kate Spade, because she always has colorful designs that are very quirky. It’s girly, but I like athleisure.

Expressions: When did you realize you were into fashion?

Donahue: I started when I was younger. I’d buy these big books where you could design dresses for dogs and put outfits together. I didn’t know I was into fashion until high school.

Expressions: What is the staple piece in your wardrobe?

Donahue: I wear black jeans a lot. Denim on denim is coming back, but I wear black jeans and a light denim jacket.

Expressions: Would you want to pursue fashion in college?

Donahue: I would like to go to FIT, Fashion Institute of Technology. I do have a scholarship from FIDM, Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, so I’m not sure.

Expressions: Could you talk a little about your scholarship?

Donahue: FIDM has four campuses in California, the biggest one is in Los Angeles. So basically I won a scholarship to attend the campus in LA for an entire year because I won the state competition for fashion design in
California.

Expressions: What did you make in the competition?

Donahue: That competition pretty much had a theme and you had to design four outfits and do all the pricing and fabric swatches. The theme was comics, I decided to title mine “Pop Art and Superheroes”. One of them had to be for a
male. I incorporated fabrics that looked like they were comic prints and superhero influences. I couldn’t find the fabric I wanted, so I took plain white cotton and paper you can print out designs on and ironed it on and made my own fabric swatches. I thought that was unique, no one else did that.

Expressions: Do you want to go to FIDM or FIT?

Donahue: FIT is different from FIDM.  FIT is in New York and I much rather prefer NYC over LA. I visited there and it’s a really big fashion capital. FIDM it’s more like designing stuff for Hollywood. I want to go into fashion merchandising, not fashion design. It’s like the business side of fashion, so FIT would be the better school for me.

Expressions: Do’s and don’ts [of fashion]?

Donahue: You shouldn’t listen to what other people say, there aren’t rules of fashion. I’m not digging the off the shoulder thing, maybe just because it makes you look wider if you have broader shoulders. Everyone looks good in different things.