AN AMERICAN DESIGNER IN PARIS: FGI SCHOLARSHIP WINNER VENNY ETIENNE REFLECTS ON INSPIRING SUMMER IN THE CITY OF LIGHTS

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Immersion programs work wonders for those wishing to master a foreign language, but can immersion also hone a creative spirit? The experience of one Dallas designer may prove the answer to this question is a resounding ?yes.?

On June 30, with bags packed and expectations high, Venny Etienne boarded a jet at DFW Airport heading for Paris. His months-long wait since winning the Fashion Group International of Dallas (FGI) Paris American Academy Scholarship in April had seemed to stretch indefinitely. Two previous entries in the national competition had cultivated patience in the 28-year-old Haitian-American designer, however, culminating in his charmed third-try win. Finally, earlier this summer, his dream of studying in one of the world?s great capitals of art, culture, and design, would finally come true.

Born in Brooklyn to Haitian parents, and currently working, studying, and designing in Dallas, Etienne (pictured above) also took home the Best of Sewing and Couture awards, in addition to the Paris American Academy Scholarship, from this year?s FGI Dallas Fashion Scholarship Competition. These accolades reflect years of hard work, putting in full time hours as a banker by day, then studying at Wade College in the Dallas Infomart and designing his own collection by night. His name now joins the likes of Khanh Nguyen of Nha Khanh and Levi Palmer of Palmer//Harding among the notable, successful designers who have won the highest prize in the 47-year history of FGI Dallas? annual event.

Upon arriving in the City of Lights, Etienne embarked upon an intensive month of study at the celebrated Paris American Academy. Located in the famed Latin Quarter, mere footsteps from Notre-Dame Cathedral, the school has built an impeccable reputation over fifty years for both short and long-term programs in fashion, fine arts, and interior design. The young Dallasite would compress a four-month program into his comparatively brief visit, filling infrequent spare hours with backstage access to Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week and tours of iconic landmarks. The experience resulted, in essence, in an immersion course in the language of creativity.

Read on for Patron Magazine?s exclusive interview with Venny Etienne, just recently returned to Dallas. Learn how, in his words, Paris gave ?voice to his vision.? Also featured are images captured through his own lens while strolling the streets of his legendary temporary home.

PATRON: Welcome home! First of all, please detail the specific areas of design that you studied in Paris.

Venny Etienne: ?At the Paris American Academy, we were offered many different areas of focus from which to choose. I selected Design Process, in which students are primarily building a fashion portfolio. With this course, you learn couture techniques as well. In addition, I took courses on how to deconstruct editorial images for meaning and reference points, as well as trend forecasting, millinery, dyeing techniques, and felting.?

Tell us about your most inspiring moments while studying in the City of Light.

?I was truly moved by the authenticity of the city’s rawness. Many times, I found myself walking down the streets with my sketchpad, taking in the scenery, and moved to tears. We read about these historic places in textbooks, but there I was, in the middle of it all. I was actually walking the cobblestones of Paris, passing the monumental cathedrals, museums, gardens, caf?s, and, of course, seeing the fashion.?

Did you ever feel overwhelmed?

?It was somewhat overwhelming, because there were so many points of reference from which to draw inspiration. I had to focus on just one to create my final portfolio. That process would normally take a semester, consisting of three to four months, but had to be completed, in my case, in one month. The Paris American Academy professors maintained expectations in line with a three to four month course.?

Tell us about you final portfolio and its genesis.

?My portfolio is entitled A Quiet Storms Love, and my inspiration was the relationship between summer storms hitting some of the city?s most beautiful architecture, and places where the storms were not present.

?My professor, Xavier Brisoux, showed me a whole new way of developing a concept, in which no room for analysis remains after exhausting all possible directions in which a concept can be explored. Previously, I would develop a collection by examining elements on a theme, then start sketching, and then go fabric shopping. The process is so much deeper for me now; it involves taking every part of what inspires you and literally peeling it away to its core.

“The theme of my portfolio is ?storms,? and this delved into research on volume and counter-volume, anatomy, and more. It?s the most meaningful, the most edited, and most direct collection I?ve ever created. Paris has given me the voice to my vision.?

At the completion of his month abroad, Venny Etienne earned an ?A? in his studies from the Paris American Academy. He states that his gratitude to Fashion Group International of Dallas for this ?priceless experience? is ?more than can be explained.? His Paris-inspired collection is slated to premier later this year or in early 2016.