Design media arts student debuts latest collection at New York Fashion Week

February 11, 2020

Fourth-year design media arts student, Matt Sarafa, debuted his fall/winter 2020 collection at New York Fashion Week this Friday. The showcase is the second time he has presented his work at New York Fashion Week, with collections at both Los Angeles and Paris fashion weeks. But before his work made it to the stage, Sarafa’s first encounter with fashion, he said, was watching “Project Runway” at 7 years old. His career kickstarted after eventually competing on the show himself, and studying at UCLA has refined both his design and business skills, he said.

Fourth-year student Matt Sarafa is the youngest designer to have shown his work at the New York, Los Angeles and Paris fashion weeks. Sarafa said he started watching Project Runway at age 7 and eventually went on to study at UCLA to refine his design and business skills. His clothing uses unorthodox fabrics to compliment the logo of his initials. (Ashley Kenney/Daily Bruin)

"Matt Sarafa’s latest collection at New York Fashion Week is another runway under his belt.

The fourth-year design media arts student debuted his fall/winter 2020 collection Friday. The showcase is the second time he has presented his work at New York Fashion Week, with collections at both Los Angeles and Paris fashion weeks. But before his work made it to the stage, Sarafa’s first encounter with fashion, he said, was watching “Project Runway” at 7 years old. His career kickstarted after eventually competing on the show himself, and studying at UCLA has refined both his design and business skills, he said.

“I always forget how exciting the time right before fashion week and right after is,” Sarafa said. “You put all this work in for months and months, blood, sweat and tears just for that 10 minute moment on the runway. To have all of your ideas come to life is the best feeling ever, but also the most nerve-wracking.”

Sarafa said studying design media arts has allowed him to explore a greater breadth of disciplines than fashion alone. He said learning technical skills in classes like “Network Media” has allowed him to use coding skills to build his own website.

His studies have both taught him practical skills and provided insights into theoretical approaches to design. Illustration skills are especially pertinent to his favorite part of putting a collection together – the actual designing – he said. Sarafa’s design process, he said, begins with a mood board of colors and patterns that the looks will utilize. His latest collection began with a simple black and white palette and a bold houndstooth print. Since then, he said his textured designs have sprung to life from mere strokes on a screen."— Alyssa Wheeler, Feb. 11, 2020

This post is an excerpt. Read the full article on the Daily Bruin website.

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