Fashion – Portland
Britni Jade Smith grew up in Fort Collins, CO where she attended Colorado State University in pursuit of a BA in Apparel Design and Merchandising, and a BFA in Fiber Art. She was granted permission by the head of the Fashion Design Department to enroll in a graduate level wearable art course her second to last year at CSU, which would inspire her to consider untraditional medium choices when constructing garments. The ensembles constructed for this course would be submitted to a set of jurors to be considered for a fashion show hosted at the end of the school year, Britni's submissions would be given the Best Use of Materials award. The following year Britni would be given the Most Creative Use of Materials award for her line displayed in the senior capstone fashion show. The last semester of her BA and BFA was a three month long internship with Mario Moya in New York, NY, here she was able to assist in the construction of the ensembles featured in the Fall/ Winter 2010 line. Since graduating, Britni has participated in a variety of fashion shows and benefit shows, displaying a series of accessories and garments that utilize irregular medium selections. Some of which include, duck-tape, paper plates, clear vinyl, plastic straws, a trick-or-treat bucket, card stock, and plastic beading cord. Britni came to Seattle in August of 2011, wanting to be exposed, and involved in the creative culture that thrives in the Emerald City. Britni participated in the VERSE RAW showcase hosted at Studio 7 located south of downtown Seattle in June 2017. After living in Seattle for six years, where she met tons of creative connections, and gained valuable experience by participating in shows, photo shoots, and other projects, she made the decision to move three hours south(in good traffic) in August 2017 to one of the most livable cities on the west coast, Portland, OR. She just recently left her job in fabric retail to work in production at a small bag company. She is also the founder and creator of Civil Wear at the Gallery, a wearable art brand that can be found on Instagram at civilwearathegallery. Britni has ambitions to one day be a Costume Fabricator and to start a craft blog. Other projects she plans to execute one day include; a children's book, and becoming a quilt fabric designer.