By Ashley Khakshouri
Hannah Rosenberg ’11 decided to pursue her passion for the arts by enrolling in both Harvard-Westlake and Otis College of Art and Design this year.
Rosenberg said she was always interested in art and realized that she wanted to work in the fashion industry in the ninth grade.
“As its own form of art, it really just seemed to fit, and has turned out to really be one of my true passions in life,” Rosenberg said.
She spent the past two years working as a design assistant for Katy Rodriguez, business owner and designer. Now Rosenberg is in charge of the public relations as well as online resources.
Rodriguez co-owns the bi-costal vintage boutique Resurrection where Rosenberg also handles the public relations and website. She does everything from running downtown to pick up fabric to helping with production and business details of the company, she said. She also helps stylists with the pulls for editorial or red carpet looks, photographs the vintage couture for Resurrection, and designs the collection with Rodriguez twice a year.
After realizing her portfolio was nowhere near the level it needed to be for the schools she was interested in, Rosenberg thought it would be best to enroll in an arts school as well as Harvard-Westlake so she could build a competitive body of work, she said.
“I decided sometime last year that dual enrollment at an art school would be a good idea. I was looking at Art Center College of Design as well in Pasadena but Otis just had the easiest program to work with and it’s such a great art school.”
Rosenberg initially suggested the idea to her dean, who then convinced the school to allow it.
“I have spent years at Harvard-Westlake preparing for a future which doesn’t suit me and I have no intention of following along with, so it made much more sense to start focusing on my real interests,” Rosenberg said.
Despite her unconventional decision, her family is supportive, as are her friends who enjoy the perks of having a friend in the fashion business, she said.
At Harvard-Westlake, she will be taking classes for four periods. Rosenberg has night classes at Otis three nights a week from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. with open studio until 1 p.m.
During night classes at Otis, Rosenberg will take observation drawing, figure drawing, oil painting, and textile design.
Rosenberg hopes to gain access to studios, so she can have the oppotunity to create some solid bodies of work for her portfolio as well as having access to the studios so she can finally have the time and the opportunity to create a sizeable portfolio.
Her goal for the future is to attend Central St. Martins in London, one of the world’s top design schools, and to later start her own brand or work for a design house, she said.
Rosenberg’s style is still evolving but she mostly tends to design high-end women’s wear. However, she said she doesn’t have a set target group of customer’s yet. Her inspiration changes with everything she designs, she said.
“For each collection, I make an image board as inspiration,” Rosenberg said. “It helps to clarify the process and it shows how my inspirations are translated into the garments themselves.”
