Sophia Zelones
Sophia in her grandmother’s Spring Coat, originally sewn circa 1950.
Fashion Merchandiser advocating for the preservation of historically & culturally significant fashion
Sophia discovered her love of fashion at a young age, beginning at age five with a pair of knitting needles. Throughout her childhood, she could often be found with her nose in a book or creating worlds of her own, often written by hand in dozens of notebooks that are now long-forgotten. It is within the endlessly expansive and fascinating worlds that she discovered and explored within literature and within herself, that her art is inspired.
While attending VCU School of the Arts, Sophia studied many diverse areas of fashion merchandising in conjunction to completing a minor in Sociology, which has elevated her ability to understand consumer behaviors, identify key performance indicators and drive sales, as well as forecast and interpret fashion trends at an understanding above other merchandisers.
In her final undergraduate semester, Sophia’s Line Development Studio project was selected as the Cotton Inc. Award Winner for outstanding work. The project involved all aspects of fashion merchandising, from the initial product development phase, where she was mentored directly by denim expert Donwan Harrell, to pitching the completed collection to a panel of esteemed critics, including Mark Messura, Senior VP of the Global Supply Chain Marketing Division at Cotton Incorporated. Sophia and her development team were honored at the 2023 VCUArts Fashion Show, where the completed collection was showcased and displayed to the public at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.
“My mission is to encourage the conservation of historically & culturally significant garments by committing myself to work that advocates for the preservation of fashion throughout time.”
What DOES She DO?
Click below each title to learn more about Sophia’s top skills.
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Sophia first began working with Adobe Photoshop in 2014. Over the last decade, she has mastered not only Ps, but a majority of Creative Cloud Applications including her go-to’s: Illustrator, After Effects, and Premiere Rush.
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During her time at VCUArts, Sophia completed several computer-aided design projects that examined the design processes behind textiles, pattern-making, and 3-D virtual garment design.
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In 2023, Sophia completed her B.A. in Fashion Merchandising, graduating from VCU School of The Arts as a First Generation student. In her program, the courses Sophia completed elevated her overall ability to execute high-quality visual designs and improved her knowledge of the Fashion industry’s marketing best practices.
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Sophia currently works as a Visual Merchandiser, specializing in Jewelry and Accessories. She executes floor moves and transitions at multiple storefront locations based on corporate VMG schematics, while also collaborating with store management to ensure product is set in a timely manner and according to planograms.
Inspirations
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Yeha Leung, Elie Saab, Vivienne Westwood, Gianni Versace, Jessica Clarke
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Novels of my childhood that inspire my work include: Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat by Lynne Jonell; The Amulet Series by Kazu Kibuishi; Maximum Ride by James Patterson; The Gallagher Girls Series by Ally Carter; Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Literature from my adulthood: Snotgirl by Bryan Lee O’Malley, Leslie Hung; The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn; The Death of Jane Lawrence, The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling
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Mamma Mia! directed by Phyllida Lloyd; Ladybird directed by Greta Gerwig; Us directed by Jordan Peele; Annihilation by Alex Garland; Split directed by M. Night Shyamalan; Moonlight directed by Barry Jenkins
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Skyrim, Dragon Age, World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Stardew Valley
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Amy Winehouse, Fleetwood Mac, MARINA, Mac Miller, Paramore, Cassyette, Boston Manor
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Audra Auclair, Jacquelin de Leon, Paloma Smith, Elena Rossato, Jaik Olson, Katie Mansfield, Timothy Hoyer, Zoe Margot, Mike Baker, Adeline Yu, Elie Saab, Ryan Ashley
