Evelina Poghosyan, Idyllwild Arts Fashion Design Department
The Associates of the Idyllwild Arts Foundation’s Spotlight on Leadership Series’ next presentation is at 10 a.m. Monday, May 13.
In the Idyllwild Arts campus’ Fireside Room, Evelina Poghasyan, fashion design instructor at Idyllwild Arts Academy, will share her excitement about her work for IAA within the Inter Arts Department, home of fashion design.
Poghosyan has been infatuated with fashion since she attended her first fashion show at age 9. She attended Atex Fashion Academy and Otis College of Art and Design. She won several awards, including Rudi Gernreich in Los Angeles, Onward Koshiyama in Tokyo and Samsung Award in Seoul.
Her works have been featured at art exhibitions and Los Angeles Fashion Weeks, and sold at high-profile stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman. In 2015, she sold her “athleisurewear” company called Peggy Moffitt.
She taught at Otis College of Art and Design from 2005 to 2018. Poghosyan also taught at California Design College and the Art Institute of Hollywood, and worked as a Design Department dean at Fremont College from 2010 to 2012. Currently, she is completing her second master’s, which is in business administration.
Abbie Bosworth, InterArts/Fashion Design chair, added, “The Fashion Department has existed at IAA for about 10 years as far as I know but has really picked up popularity in the last five or six years.
“We have around 30 fashion students this year, from Kazakhstan, Poland, Russia, China, Korea and the U.S. Two main fashion shows are produced every year: one in December and one in April.
“Our most recent fashion show was on Saturday, April 20, in a forest grove down at the lower end of campus. For the last three years, we have put on an Upcycling Fashion Show with the Idyllwild Help Center in order to raise money for their programs. Our students mostly go to [University of the Arts London] either to the London College of Fashion, or to Central Saint Martins, and Parsons, NY. Students regularly have workshops with different professionals — for example, Robert Lopez for jewelry, or Debra Hovel for shoes, Mimi Jacaruso for felting.
“Evelina has brought a connection to Love Your Body, a fashion show in L.A. for all body types, where our students are able to show their work. We are also proud of a collaboration that we did this year with the Dance Department, where our students designed and made the tiaras for their fall ballet. ”
The free Associates’ Spotlight on Leadership Series is in the Fireside Room in the Nelson Dining Hall on the Idyllwild Arts campus. Coffee and tea plus breakfast snacks will be served.
