A Girl of Many Titles and Talents in Fashion
Fashion blogger. Designer. Full-time student. Fashion intern. Sewing lab assistant. Yes, all of these titles belong to McKenzie Kennedy. McKenzie Kennedy is a Fashion Studies major at Montclair State University, a graduating senior and a future fashion designer. Originally from Tampa, Florida, Kennedy is a strawberry blonde-haired, green-eyed girl who has come to the East Coast to be close to one of the fashion capitals of the world, a.k.a. New York but still keeps her Southern Florida roots close to her heart and her sketch pad.
Kennedy’s interest in fashion started at eight, “It was when my aunt came down from Key West and we went fabric shopping and started to cut out patterns for the clothing,” Kennedy says. Her aunt Marcie, “was very experienced and influential” to Kennedy, and would take her to Just Jo-Ann Fabrics, where the two would pick out patterns and samples together. Kennedy would show her aunt her designs and would ask what fabrics would be the best to use. Her aunt Marcie was thrilled to find out that this is what Kennedy wanted to pursue in college.
Kennedy’s love for designing, picking out patterns and creating her own clothes continued on, especially this past summer, when she interned at The Princess Boutique, a popular and high-end boutique in Tampa as a sales representative. She talked to customers, put up signs and promotions but most importantly, was able to design dresses for the boutique. Kennedy was able to sell two of her dresses, one blue polyester dress for $70 and a purple paisley dress for $80 (pictured above).
“It was really cool [when people bought the dresses],” Kennedy says with a huge smile.
But this was not the first time that her designs came to life and were seen by people. Earlier in May, Kennedy was able to participate in the Fashion Night Show at Montclair State University. The crowd had cheered as Kennedy made her way down the runway in the top she had designed.
Kennedy’s passion for fashion has even made it to the internet. Influenced and inspired by seeing what celebrities are wearing, and even her own friends on campus, Kennedy decided to start her fashion blog, “Figuring Out Fashion” (http://www.figuringoutfashion.com/) last year. In her blog, she interviews friends, takes photos, talks about trends, and celebrities.
“It’s a fun hobby to have and have my friends involved in,” Kennedy says.
Although, Kennedy’s time at Montclair State University is coming to an end, she looks back on the great four years that she has had here. Starting with her first fashion class “Clothing and Culture” that she took freshman year.
“[The class] touched base on basics of fashion, the silhouettes, colors and textures, and how different cultures take and choose each aspect to use in their society,” she said.
One of Kennedy’s most influential professors has been Dr. Lillethun, her advisor and professor that she has had for four classes. Dr. Lillethun is a fashion and dress historian and teaches many courses in the fashion department. She first met Kennedy in her “Culture and Appearance” class that Kennedy took freshman year. They first connected geographically because Kennedy is from Tampa and Lillethun taught at the University of South Florida. Kennedy also works for Lillethun at the apparel study as the sewing lab assistant to assist students working on their projects.
When asked what she thinks of McKenzie’s designs and overall style, Lillethun said, “McKenzie does really cute and practical design at the same time.”
Which is seen through Kennedy’s use of funky-fun and bright patterned designs and Floridian vibes.
Dr. Lillethun says that Kennedy will be missed given that “she’s a good contributor. She’s active and knows her faculty in the program, and connects with us. We can benefit from her success and she can take everything she’s learned and turn it into her big future.”
What does the future hold for Kennedy? “It’s possible for her to succeed, she has good opportunities in Florida, it’s a good home for apparel brands…[like] Chico’s and others,” Lillethun says.
Kennedy also thinks about her future career path, but for now she would like to travel to Scotland after she graduates and study the fashion there because of her Scottish roots. Meaning that she will be adding yet another title to her name. Traveler.
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