When walking around NOVA’s Woodbridge campus, you may come across a bevy of stylish students, at times dressed head to toe in the latest trends, sometimes painfully so. But if you keep looking, you’re likely to come across Heather Kirkpatrick, a NOVA sophomore and fresh face in the ever-changing fashion industry, walking the halls or helping students as part of her job with the Student Ambassadors.

Kirkpatrick recalls her first glimmer of fashion aspirations in her high school years, after being exposed to a sewing class that her school offered. After completing this course in her senior year, she became more acclimated to the career field and began assessing possible job opportunities as she began her schooling at NOVA. Kirkpatrick was raised as no stranger to the arts, with a father who spent several years in the theater industry and other family members who frequently ask her for styling advice. She stated that she is deeply rooted in the field of visual merchandising, which in simpler terms, refers to window displays and mannequins that we may not fully appreciate when walking into retail stores. We might not even consciously realize that these visuals convey a store’s look, and inspires what we purchase at the end of our shopping excursion. This is no easy job, and Kirkpatrick spends a great deal of time researching and viewing retail stores in order to get a good feel of what works and what doesn’t. Also citing styling and merchandise buying as career interests, she preps for her future while being a student by taking a heavy load of design and art courses, as well as preparing to take fashion related courses next semester on campus.

When asked who her style icon is she replied without hesitation, “Marc Jacobs. He’s my favorite. I love how he doesn’t [care] about what people think. He goes out and does whatever he wants to do.”

This blasé way of living has clearly rubbed off on Kirkpatrick, who marches to the beat of her own drum, rejecting the often cliche way of approaching fashion and the activities surrounding it.

“I don’t follow trends… the only exception would be skinny jeans.”

She elaborated further stating if she were to create a line of trendy pieces or a designer collection, she would focus on organic and environmentally-friendly fabrics, as well as focusing on American-made goods.

Kirkpatrick recommends stopping by “The Village” and other local area thrift stores for trendy goods on the cheap, and going to outlets such as Bloomingdale’s and BCBG for a splurge purchase. As like most fashionable phenoms in this technology-infused decade, she also mentioned modcloth.com as a place for retro-influenced pieces and discussed shopping strategies on eBay for snagging designer goods for less than retail.

On her dislike list, she mentioned Silly Bandz and velour tracksuits as her major fashion offenders. I whole-heartedly agreed, mentioning the “Kanye West-style stunner shades” as my personal styling pet peeve.

Kirkpatrick is currently living it up, relishing in the fall season, stating it is her favorite season due to her affinity of covering up and wearing classic fall accessories and apparel pieces.

In the future, she plans on attending the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in California, and hopes to start her career there with the possibility of transitioning to NYC over time. If she stays on this path she will be sure to be a smash success. Fashion world watch out, and be ready for Heather Kirkpatrick!

Do you feel like you’re a fashionista, just waiting to be discovered? Then e-mail me at stipple@novafortnightly.com, with your style ideas or photos and you may be NOVA’s next Fresh Face in Fashion.

By: Stephanie Tipple

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