Not Wasting Any Time

Interested in fashion since she was a little girl, Mattie Knox never doubted what she wanted to study after graduating from high school. She did doubt, however, that she would be able to find a school and fashion program that could keep pace with her own enthusiasm.

"I could have gone to any school I wanted to," Mattie says, "but I didn't want to go somewhere I would spend the first two years figuring out what my major would be and taking only core classes. I knew I wanted to study fashion and I wanted to get into fashion classes as soon as possible."

Mattie didn't know anyone at the International Academy of Design and Technology in Tampa, but was impressed enough with the campus and the Fashion Design and Marketing program's resources and reputation that she enrolled in the summer of 2004. Expecting to graduate in early 2008, Mattie doesn't regret her choice at all. In fact, IADT's Fashion Design and Marketing program seems almost tailor-made for her. "I was able to start taking fashion classes at the very beginning," Mattie says. "By the end of my first year here I knew how to drape, draft, sew and draw. I understood fashion and where it had come from. That kind of immediate immersion is exactly what I was looking for."

Always a strong student, Mattie says her classes are challenging but not overwhelming. "There have been some bumps in the road where I have been confused, but I've never been lost for long," she says. "There is always someone, whether it's a former or current instructor, to go to with questions. The instructors don't just tell you you're wrong, but help set you right…and the class environment is such you are never afraid to ask a question or ask for help. You never have to fight for a teacher's attention."

Mattie says she also appreciates the breadth of the Fashion Design and Marketing program at the Academy. She plans on opening a boutique in West Palm Beach, selling her own designs as well as a few select other lines (and she plans on doing this with another fashion design and marketing student from IADT), and says she feels she's learning exactly what she needs to to achieve her goal. "Between the variety of classes and the real-world experience all the instructors have and share with students, I'm learning about all the different aspects of fashion."

"I appreciate that the program gives you the liberty to decide what you really want to do and then encourages you through it. By the time I graduate, I'm going to be ready for the fashion world."