Bopha SarBY MEGHAN McCARTHY, Staff Writer
The Caledonian Record (USA)
LITTLETON, N.H. -- The one thing Bopha Sar is dreading as she plans for college in the fall is having to sit through Sewing 101.
The aspiring fashion designer has been sewing since she was 5 years old and has been making her own clothes - including drama costumes and prom dresses - since she was just a kid.
"I grew up sewing," the 18-year-old, 2006 Littleton High School graduate said Friday. "I really like doing suits and tailored looks. And I like evening gowns."
Sar should gain plenty of experience, beyond Sewing 101, at The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) in Los Angeles, where she is scheduled to begin classes in October. As a bonus, she learned last month that she is the recipient of a $20,000 "Drive Your Future" scholarship, awarded by Mercedes-Benz, to attend the school.
"I was so excited," Sar said of winning the scholarship. "I was literally jumping up and down, screaming."
Sar returned this week from a visit to L.A. with her mother, Heang Khong. While there she visited the school, attended a Mercedes-Benz event and got to meet fashion designer Kevan Hall, who will be her mentor at FIDM.
Hall, an alumnus of FIDM, has designed clothing for the likes of Charlize Theron, Salma Hayek and Mariah Carey, and Sar said she's excited at the opportunity to work with him.
The FIDM program in fashion design runs two years, although Sar said she would have the opportunity to pursue a bachelor's degree and focus on a specific area of the business. The scholarship, she said, would cover most of her first-year expenses.
In at least one way, Sar seems different from many teens entering the post-high school world. She already has a pretty good idea of what she wants to do with her professional life. And she has a good bit of experience in clothing design, too.
Her mother, who came to the North Country from Cambodia as a teenager, worked for years as a seamstress, often with help from her husband Vary Sar. The first thing Bopha remembers sewing is socks, to help her parents. Gradually she moved onto other clothing and soon began designing and making many of her own clothes.
"My mom is my true inspiration," she said. "My mom taught me so much growing up."
Sar, who said she participated in every drama production at LHS from eighth grade through graduation, has designed and sewed many of the costumes for those plays. She also worked for a summer at the Weathervane Theatre designing stage costumes. There she often helped create costumes simply by looking at photographs, and the stitching crew had only about a week to put together an entire show.
"That's the whole thing about fashion design that I love, is not having a pattern," she said.
"She's been doing this for a number of years," LHS Principal Alan Smith said. "You'd often see her in the art room designing fashion, clothing."
Sar also did well with academics, played soccer and was popular with other students throughout the school, Smith said.
"She's been extremely active here in school," he said. "She did very well in all areas. But her passion was in art and drama."
Ultimately Sar would like to own a boutique, create costumes for movies, or do a little of both.
"I want to do sci-fi. I want to do futuristic, way-out-there costumes," she said.
But she'd also like to design her own fashion line and create outfits for the rich and famous to wear on Hollywood's red carpets. Someday she'd even like to open a clothing store in her hometown.
As part of the application for the scholarship, she had to submit a creative portfolio of three outfits a star would wear getting out of their Mercedes-Benz. She chose three different celebrities for the exercise.
For Angelina Jolie, she designed a sleek motorcycle outfit. Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas got a fun denim skirt as part of a colorful outfit. Alicia Keys donned an elegant, short dress in a summery blue.
For now, she only imagines dressing Hollywood's stars.
But wait a few years, and you may just hear Bopha Sar's name dropped on a real red carpet.
The aspiring fashion designer has been sewing since she was 5 years old and has been making her own clothes - including drama costumes and prom dresses - since she was just a kid.
"I grew up sewing," the 18-year-old, 2006 Littleton High School graduate said Friday. "I really like doing suits and tailored looks. And I like evening gowns."
Sar should gain plenty of experience, beyond Sewing 101, at The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) in Los Angeles, where she is scheduled to begin classes in October. As a bonus, she learned last month that she is the recipient of a $20,000 "Drive Your Future" scholarship, awarded by Mercedes-Benz, to attend the school.
"I was so excited," Sar said of winning the scholarship. "I was literally jumping up and down, screaming."
Sar returned this week from a visit to L.A. with her mother, Heang Khong. While there she visited the school, attended a Mercedes-Benz event and got to meet fashion designer Kevan Hall, who will be her mentor at FIDM.
Hall, an alumnus of FIDM, has designed clothing for the likes of Charlize Theron, Salma Hayek and Mariah Carey, and Sar said she's excited at the opportunity to work with him.
The FIDM program in fashion design runs two years, although Sar said she would have the opportunity to pursue a bachelor's degree and focus on a specific area of the business. The scholarship, she said, would cover most of her first-year expenses.
In at least one way, Sar seems different from many teens entering the post-high school world. She already has a pretty good idea of what she wants to do with her professional life. And she has a good bit of experience in clothing design, too.
Her mother, who came to the North Country from Cambodia as a teenager, worked for years as a seamstress, often with help from her husband Vary Sar. The first thing Bopha remembers sewing is socks, to help her parents. Gradually she moved onto other clothing and soon began designing and making many of her own clothes.
"My mom is my true inspiration," she said. "My mom taught me so much growing up."
Sar, who said she participated in every drama production at LHS from eighth grade through graduation, has designed and sewed many of the costumes for those plays. She also worked for a summer at the Weathervane Theatre designing stage costumes. There she often helped create costumes simply by looking at photographs, and the stitching crew had only about a week to put together an entire show.
"That's the whole thing about fashion design that I love, is not having a pattern," she said.
"She's been doing this for a number of years," LHS Principal Alan Smith said. "You'd often see her in the art room designing fashion, clothing."
Sar also did well with academics, played soccer and was popular with other students throughout the school, Smith said.
"She's been extremely active here in school," he said. "She did very well in all areas. But her passion was in art and drama."
Ultimately Sar would like to own a boutique, create costumes for movies, or do a little of both.
"I want to do sci-fi. I want to do futuristic, way-out-there costumes," she said.
But she'd also like to design her own fashion line and create outfits for the rich and famous to wear on Hollywood's red carpets. Someday she'd even like to open a clothing store in her hometown.
As part of the application for the scholarship, she had to submit a creative portfolio of three outfits a star would wear getting out of their Mercedes-Benz. She chose three different celebrities for the exercise.
For Angelina Jolie, she designed a sleek motorcycle outfit. Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas got a fun denim skirt as part of a colorful outfit. Alicia Keys donned an elegant, short dress in a summery blue.
For now, she only imagines dressing Hollywood's stars.
But wait a few years, and you may just hear Bopha Sar's name dropped on a real red carpet.
2 comments:
You share my daughter's name.
Bopha meaning " beautiful flower" in Cambodian language.Very very nice!!
I wish you good luck & congratulation! and don't forget our own heritage clothing isn't so bad either!
I cann't wait to see your name on one of those signature brand clothings that will fly all over the department stores everywhere I go. Take care!
Congraatualtion!! and Keep up the good work!!
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