Passion for fashion: a charming introduction

By Sarah Ribble

Fashion Design senior Sarah Ribble. 

I’ve always been fascinated by charm bracelets. Growing up, I admired my grandmother’s. She has spent a lifetime collecting the charms on her bracelet and they are all beautiful, unique little objects that mean something special to her.

I started collecting charms and making my own bracelet a few years ago and it has quickly become one of my most prized possessions. Whether I purchase them new, receive them as gifts, or find them in vintage shops, they all represent a part of who I am.

As a senior fashion design major at CCAD, my passion for fashion is well-represented on my bracelet with an iron, a pair of scissors, a bobbin, a bow, a clothespin, and a spinning wheel (with an actual wheel that spins).

I’m currently working on designing and developing my senior collection of luxury lingerie. I spent the summer interning with LBrands, designing bras for La Senza, and after graduation I hope to continue working as a lingerie designer.

I was born and raised in Columbus, OH, where I started taking Saturday Morning Art Classes at CCAD when I was in fifth grade. I knew from then on that this was where I would go to school. In my junior year of high school, I knew exactly what I wanted to study—what I love about fashion is that it allows me to use my skills to create something that people live their lives in.

As a student at CCAD, I love the attention the fashion design department receives from the city of Columbus. I’ve been able to participate in amazing events such as Planned Parenthood’s Condom Couture and our fashion show at the end of the year is the must see event of the season!

I wouldn’t be where I am today without the support of my family and they are represented on my bracelet as well: a camera for my mother, a four-leaf clover for my father, and a hummingbird and a seashell for my grandmothers. The Eiffel Tower, though somewhat cliché, represents my desire to travel the world and the teapot speaks to my love of tea. I’m looking forward to adding a graduation cap to my bracelet and to a senior year full of exciting CCAD and Columbus events.

Sarah Ribble is a CCAD senior fashion design major who enjoys designing lingerie, drinking tea, and collecting new baubles for her ever-growing charm bracelet.