Kariong resident, Maria Ganeko, completed her HSC at Kariong Mountains High School in 2015 and now she’s off to New York City for Fashion Week.
“I spent most of Year 12 dreaming about being in the fashion industry, but I wasn’t thinking about it seriously until I found a diploma course at the Fashion Institute,” Ms Ganeko said. She will complete her full-time Business Fashion Diploma at the end of 2016 and, as part of the course, will spend September in New York with opportunities to work as an intern at the city’s fashion houses and back stage during New York Fashion Week.
Maria’s ultimate goal is to be a fashion designer with her own label but, at the moment, she is happy to be undertaking studies that give her exposure to the whole range of activities and career options available in the industry. She knows she has chosen a tough and competitive industry to break into, so she is not waiting to graduate before gathering as much work experience as possible. “At the beginning of the year, I was an intern at Girlfriend Magazine, working on styling and preparing for photo shoots in the magazine,” she said. “I am now at Mink Pink which is a young brand and I am doing that internship for design experience,” she said.
The trip to New York is part of her course with the Sydney-based Fashion Institute and includes a range of different opportunities to do work experience throughout her stay in the city. Assisting at Fashion Week will certainly be the climax of the trip for Maria. “A lot of opportunities are being offered by the institute’s careers manager and I am looking for a New York design internship. “Fashion Week will be incredibly exciting because I will be assisting at shows, dressing models and taking part in all the back stage activity,” she said. Email, Jul 21, 2016 Bryce McIntosh, The Fashion Institute
Interview, Jul 25, 2016 Maria Ganeko, Kariong Jackie Pearson, journalist