Sharon TamThe moment Serafina Torres first stepped into Santa Ana College’s new fashion studio, equipped with industrial-grade sewing machines, piles of fabric, and large expanses of working space, she knew she had come to the right place. An aspiring fashion designer, Torres had long been interested in creating and designing clothing, but had never gotten instruction beyond a high school sewing class.
The Fashion Department had been located on the upper floor of the Technical Arts building for the entirety of its history before relocating to an updated workshop in The Village at the start of the year. The old classroom had frequently been reported by students as cramped, as all fashion classes from screen printing to corset construction were held in that same space.
“I mean, in that [old] classroom, we still got a lot of stuff done, but you’re kind of tripping over things and you’re really crowded for bigger classes,” said former student Jeffrey Tanck. “You had to really navigate the room, and the only cutting tables were sometimes piled with fabric. Or there’d be like a screen printing machine on top of it. So it was a challenge.”
Tanck is an alum of the Fashion Department returning to start as a Fashion Department adjunct professor in the spring semester hoping to pass on his skills to new students.
“Seeing the new workspace with so much designated working space for students was amazing,” Tanck continued. “Not only is that good for like, having some personal space and more room to get around. It’s good for productivity. These kids are gonna get faster and neater.”
A new student of the Fashion Design and Merchandising Department here at SAC, Torres is one of the first to enjoy the department’s larger studio at The Village. Equipment that had long been stuck in storage, such as a mug printing machine and a T-shirt vinyl printer, is now available for use due to the extra space. New mannequins and an embroidery machine are recent additions to the studio.
Having upgraded from one room to two, the department can now separate equipment in different rooms for its various classes. The extra space and equipment is already being noticed and appreciated by the students of the program.
“I’m actually starting my own business,” Torres said. “I wanted to improve my technical skills so I can make more elaborate clothing for people, and I think [my pattern drafting class] is really helping because it allows me to make the clothing from scratch and then design for different bodies.”
Torres elaborated: “There’s mannequin forms, pinnable mannequin forms, and they’re everywhere in different sizes, too. Oh, my God, it’s great. It’s improving all my technical skills and that’s what I came here for, to get way better. So it’s perfect.”
This upgraded space has already helped students receive a stellar experience — and the department’s sentiment is that it will only get better.
“Whether we get a new building or not, this is temporary, being in the village,” said department chair Kyla Benson. “So the plan is to move, and I think when we move the second time, we’re gonna be really prepared. We’ll know how to set up our new space to have even better flow.”
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