Before deciding to pursue a career in Fashion Design, FIDM Grad Jeremy Parr was a Chemist with a degree in Biology. After realizing that an artistic life was what he truly desired, he
looked to his roots, specifically his grandmother who was a talented
artist and seamstress, and decided to become a designer. Now he's
mixing concoctions of an
altogether different sort as owner and designer of Martin and Magpie, a line of men's and women's urban street and formal wear.
Jeremy, who just graduated from FIDM's Fashion Design program in 2006, recently showed his latest desings on the runway at San Francisco Fashion Week and he's currently working on creating custom jeans and theatre costumes as well as a menswear line for Martin and Magpie. You can purchase Martin and Magpie clothing at San Francisco's cutting edge boutique, RAG. --Kim
Name: Jeremy Parr
Title: Owner/Designer, Martin and Magpie
City: San Francisco
Five sites you must visit daily: CNN, Style.com, Google, Blockbuster, theworld.org
Favorite lifestyle publications: Men's Health, The New Yorker
Favorite designers: Vivienne Westwood, Nicolas Ghesquiere
Who is your style icon and why? Zooey Deschanel, Chloe Sevigny. Drama and hypnotic, powerful eyes.
The most beloved item in your wardrobe? A pair of blue jeans I made for myself.
If you could own the wardrobe of any film or t.v. character, whose would it be? Alexis Carrington Colby from Dynasty, or Cher's dresses from Sonny and Cher (their 70's variety show).
The ultimate accessory is.... a lie.
Anything else you'd like to add? FIDM was such a good jumping off point for me. I'm so busy with work now, learning still, every day, I hardly have time to stop....or don't know where to stop. It's great, but making good fashion is constant and rigorous work. In making fashion there are endless possibilities; this is why for me it is maddening to even think of stopping. I love it and hate it.
Images: (top to bottom) Jeremy Par, Martin and Magpie, a design by Vivienne Westwood, Nicole Kidman in Nicolas Ghesquire, Zooey Deschanel and Chloe Sevigny, and Joan Collins (as Alexis on Dynasty)
Related FIDM Majors: Fashion Design, Film & TV Costume Design, Theatre Costume Design
I'm a junior in high school and I want to become a fashion desinger and someday own my own business. I just wanted to know do you think it is better to start school at a regular college first before entering into a fashion college such as FIDM? Some people have told me to start off first in a college such as UCLA, and I see that you started off getting a degree in Biology before attending FIDM. Any help you can give would be helpful. Thanx!! :-)
Posted by: Christina V. Silva | February 04, 2008 at 05:43 PM
Dear Christina:
It is not necessary to start college at UCLA or any other college before coming to FIDM. FIDM is a regular college, but it's a specialized fashion college at the same time. In just two years you will graduate with an AA degree in Fashion Design which will enable you to enter the Fashion Design world, generally in positions such as Assistant Designer or Design Room Assistant. Then you'll be doing what you love and getting paid for it while others are still in school. Or you can go out on your own in your own Fashion business
Since you're a Junior in high school, you can enter FIDM's Fast Track Program which helps high school Juniors get set to enter FIDM as soon as they graduate high school. Click here for all the info:
http://blogs.fashionclub.com/fasttrack/
Happy Designing!
Fashion Girl
Posted by: Fashion Girl | February 07, 2008 at 01:56 PM
Hey...im a junior in high school and i really want to go into the fashion world.....and i have this project that im doing for my junior III honors english class that involves what we want to do after we graduate,and i am wondering if i can please interview you to ask you a couple of questions...
Posted by: Samuel Piedra | March 15, 2008 at 06:07 PM