Amanda M. Kostran

I was born in a suburb outside of Buffalo, NY. I was raised with great family support and morals and encouraged to follow my dreams wherever they may take me. I was a very active child always playing sports. I played tennis for my high school from eighth grade until graduation. I also began teaching tennis at a summer tennis camp at my local town park as soon as I turned 16 and have been doing that every summer since. At a young age I was taught to design and sew by my grandmother by using Barbies as my clients. At the early age of 10, I had already been dreaming of one day becoming a famous fashion designer. When it came to making college choices, the major had already been chosen in my mind, it was just where I would study that was in question.

During my college search I was sent a brochure for Cazenovia College located in Central New York. I saw that the college had a fashion design program and the campus looked beautiful, so I decided to take a tour of Cazenovia College later that spring. I instantly fell in love with its small town atmosphere and the extraordinary scenery of the campus and its surrounding area. The small class sizes and its proximity to NYC, the fashion capital of the world, made the choice even easier.

In 2004 I entered Cazenovia College as a freshman in the Fashion Design Program. I also joined the dance club and decided to play Division III lacrosse for our school team. I elected to take my required freshman class in Sports Management due to the lack of a fashion first-year class and my desire to study the marketing aspect of fashion as well. Due to my love of sports I naturally enjoyed the class and decided to take other sports management classes as my open electives. My sophomore year I often wondered if what I really wanted to do with my life was a career in sports management until I discovered a way to combine my two loves. That year for a design project I decided to make a tennis outfit, which I later turned into a collection during my winter break. From that point on I knew that I wanted to become an activewear designer where I could apply my athletic knowledge and love of sports to my fashion design skills. My junior year I explored the activewear industry more by designing a four piece golf apparel collection which included three womens outfits and one mens outfit. My senior collection was a five piece running apparel collection inspired by the 2008 Beijing Olympics and featured three womens outfits and two mens outfits. I also explored into the textiles used in the activewear industry by obtaining fabric samples from textile manufacturers overseas which featured moisture-wicking, UV protection and body temperature controling properties. I was able to use some of these fabrics within the collection.

I graduated in May of 2008 with a Bachelors Degree in Fashion Design with a minor in Sports Studies. I am currently looking to get into the activewear industry with an entry level design position in either creative or technical design.