Born and raised in Knoxville, Tennessee, Maddy Ramsey knew she wanted to be a fashion designer since she was a young girl. After discovering FIDM, she signed up to attend 3 Days of Fashion and served as President of her high school’s FIDM Fashion Club. After being accepted early to the college, Maddy enrolled at the San Francisco campus in 2019. Even with the challenges of the pandemic, she received her A.A. in Fashion Design in March 2021 and is now a Design and Product Design intern with the LA-based brand Almost There. We chatted with the new alumna to learn more about what inspired her final collection and why she’s continuing her education at FIDM in the fall.
You were a FIDM Fashion Club President in high school. What are your favorite memories of that time? Some of my favorite memories from running a FIDM Fashion Club at my high school in Tennessee was getting to unite the fashion lovers and creatives who didn’t really have a voice to all come together to be creative together and learn from one another.
Tell us about the collection you designed at FIDM: My final collection was inspired by princesses and the idea of a runaway princess. I am a huge Taylor Swift fan and was listening to “Love Story” and that’s what sparked the inspiration for my final collection — a Romeo and Juliet story about a princess falling in love and running away to be with her forbidden love!
What does it feel to score an internship the same month you graduated, and in the middle of a pandemic? It feels amazing! I am so excited to get my foot in the fashion industry! I will be a Design and Product Development intern with Almost There, an LA based women’s clothing brand. However, because we are still in the midst of a pandemic it will be a remote internship, which is a great deal so that I can stay home, make connections in the fashion industry, and gain fashion design experience without even living in LA, but across the country in Tennessee.
You are continuing your education with FIDM this fall. What will you be studying? I will be starting the International Manufacturing & Product Development program and will then transfer into the B.A. in Business Management program. I would love to learn the business and production side to fashion now that I know the design side.
What are your ultimate career goals? I would love to be on the red carpet! That is my dream, making luxury gowns for celebrities one day!
