Student Feature: Xinyi Fang

Xinyi Fang Student

I met Professor Moyer during the summer of the pandemic while I was preparing for my college application. She was a guest professor for a fashion design course, leading us through a project. Although she couldn’t teach in person due to the pandemic, I could still feel the vibrancy and humor in her classes through the screen. Most importantly, it was my first exposure to a college-level teaching style, and this course fundamentally changed many of my thinking patterns and habits in design.

One of the most memorable moments was when I was working with the element of the “zipper.” At first, I was simply incorporating images of zippers directly into the clothing silhouette, cutting them out, finding the right angle, and pasting them on—that’s how I approached it. However, Professor Moyer advised me to learn to transform elements, whether in design or in fabric, encouraging me to "try to develop more and deeper." That’s exactly what she said. Inspired by her advice, I later turned to embroidery for inspiration, creating new fabric modifications.

This was an entirely new perspective for me—a fresh way of observing ordinary objects from different angles, transforming them, blending them with other elements, and developing ideas from multiple viewpoints. It opened up a whole new understanding of design for me. Growing up in China’s traditional education system, my thinking had often been fixated on a straightforward pursuit of results—the faster and more precise, the better—without much time to pause, reflect, and expand my creative thinking in the process.

Although the course was relatively short, its impact on me was profound. It brought me more inspiration and creative approaches for future projects, undoubtedly becoming a cornerstone in securing offers from schools I truly wanted to attend.

（works for my application)

After entering university, I began exploring my design style and approach more deeply. At the same time, I started thinking more about the direction I wanted my career to take. By my junior year, I had a growing aspiration to establish my own brand in the future. However, I realized that, alongside design skills, I needed a solid foundation in business and management to help minimize risks when launching a brand. With this in mind, I decided in my senior year to apply for fashion management programs.

After making this decision, I reached out to Professor Moyer again, and we met in person for the first time—hard to believe we’d known each other for five years already! Despite the years, we connected instantly, like old friends, and spent an afternoon chatting in a cozy café. I showed her my recent work and the projects I had been preparing for my graduate applications. She shared valuable insights, advising me on various challenges and advantages brands face during their early stages. To my delight, she also offered to write a recommendation letter for me.

That conversation was one of the most comfortable and exhilarating ones I’ve had in a long time; it felt like a blend of mentorship and camaraderie that I hadn’t experienced before. I left the café inspired and even more certain of my path, with a newfound clarity on the complexities of establishing a brand and the importance of foresight in navigating the challenges that come with it. Each piece of advice she shared felt incredibly tailored, not only to my current work but also to the person I am and hope to become in this field. Professor Moyer spoke with a depth of experience and a genuine interest in seeing me grow, which left a lasting impression. I felt that she understood my ambition and encouraged me to think of my future not only as a designer but also as a strategist.

Walking away from that meeting, I was filled with a sense of reassurance and excitement, as if I was seeing my dreams come into sharper focus. I truly believe that meeting her, both virtually during those initial years and now in person, was something of a turning point. She has been like a guiding light, encouraging me to reach higher and look deeper, and I can’t help but feel that our paths were meant to cross.