Francesca
About
Good day! I am Francesca Cozza. I am excited that you have found me here on Lessonface. I love teaching and am excited to teach you the many aspects of Drawing, Painting, Creative Writing, Business/Entrepreneurship and Fashion Designing.
I have several years of not only working as a fashion designer, but also teaching. I began my career teaching drawing classes at Bronx Community College. I've taught Fashion Illustration, Fashion Designing and Art classes at community Art Centers, and to small groups with a special interest in Fashion Design, Fashion Illustration, Drawing, Painting and Sewing. I worked at fashion design houses with Halston, Spaulding, Paula Varsalona (Bridal) and through my own company Cozza Couture.
My approach to teaching is that you are comfortable in understanding each lesson that is created for you specifically in mind. We are all at different levels and with every assignment, newly learned brush stroke, drawing technique, Ah ha! moment, you progress at your pace. Practice is always the best teacher. I want you to know that you are not alone on the journey. Feel free to ask me questions about color, design, style, technique, etc. Your own creative personality will reflect in the work that you create and grow as you develop new skills.
I want you to know that I believe that finding motivationin practicing your new found love is limiting; it is with INSPIRATION that helps us to continue in doing what we love and to continue to explore. We will discuss inspiration and how it motivates us to see the world around us in so many wonderful way.
I look forward to you joining my class and the exciting path you have chosen in learning about the many aspects of Art.
Teaching Style
My teaching style is through a variety of ways. I enjoy lecturing and demonstrating, however, you will know prior to our class what we will be doing and will have an assignment to work on. We will collaborate on ideas and topics so that it generates inspiration and discuss the old Master's in painting, drawing, fashion and other areas of art.
We will explore what most resonates with you as I go through each teaching style and focus on that which works best for you.
Curriculum
I teach in a variety of methods because each student is unique and understands topics and concepts in different ways. Some students learn best through visual processing, others auditorily, while others learn hands on (kinesthetic-tactile) and most learn with a combination of all these methods. I enjoy teaching by all of these methods. I want my students to not only be excited about what you are learning, but comfortable in processing the information and in the skills they are building.
My teaching methods include lecturing, demonstrating, having us exchange in discussions, inquiry-based (research), hands-on activities and projects. Each of these methods in combination offer skill building and a more complete comprehension of what you will be learning in my classes. I will also share with you the experiences I have in attending museums from around the world and the Master artists' works.
Credentials & Affiliations
High School of Art and Design, New York City, New York, Major: Fashion Design. Coordinator and Prsident of the yearly Fashion Show for 3 years.
Classes included: Commercial Art, Drawing (in all mediums), Painting (in all mediums), Life Drawing, Architectural drawing, Sewing Techniques and Construction, Draping, Creating Mood Boards, Fashion History and Fashion Illustration.
Fashion Institue of Technology, New York City, New York. Major: Fashion Design
Classes included: Draping, Patternmaking, Textiles, Drawing (all mediums), Life Drawing, Sewing Techniques and Construction, Styling, Painting (all mediums), Fashion History and Fashion Illustration.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Florida. Bachelor of Science degree. Major: Aerospace (Satellite and Spacecraft Systems, Humanities and Aircraft Accident Investigation).
SDA Bocconi School of Management, Milan, Italy: Master's degree in Luxury Management
Degree incorporates traveling to Paris, Dubai, Milan, London, Lausanne and Rome throughout the course of a year. Each city provided company tours and lectures in the fashion, watchmaking, jewelry, hospitality, food and beverage, automotive and yachting industry. In addition, classes are conducted during the week pertaining to the topics of luxury on:
- Crafting Brands Through Arts and Culture: Luxury values and heritage, Brand management and analysis, Trends and concepts of hard luxury, Luxury brand communication and semiotics.
- Go To Market: International Growth, Buying and Merchandising locations and KPI’s, Country of Origin.
- Value Creation in Luxury Markets: Cultural models of brand building, Understanding and managing brand identity, Growth challenge and key dilemmas, Creativity in Luxury.
- Approaching Customers with Luxury Services: The importance of storytelling, Digital transformation and the “connect store”, Fundamentals of great service, Understanding luxury service, Customer experience and recovery.
- Strategic Diagnosis and External Environment: Leadership seminar, Corporate governance in luxury companies, Supply chain management and counterfeiting, Sustainability, Lean Management, The new competitive landscape-India and Southeast Asia.
- Managing Growth and Evaluation Performance: Corporate valuation, Accounting, Financing growth, M&A, Data sources and decision making tools, HR and employer branding.
- New frontiers and Looking Ahead: Social Media and CRM in luxury, Luxury trademarks and design, New technologies (AI, augmented reality), The future of luxury industries.
- Live classes online included topics from Design Thinking, Operational Strategy, Omni-channel Distribution, Scenario Planning, Entrepreneurial project, and other management courses.
- Provided presentations from company briefs of Illy Cafe, Cartier, Prada,
FASHION DESIGNER
20 + years of fashion designing from inspiring to creating collections and marketing. History of innovating and collaborating with team members in fashion houses and being a proven leader.
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Core Knowledge and Skills
⬩ Fashion Designing ⬩ Creating Mood Boards ⬩ Portfolio creation
⬩ Hand drawing and Adobe Illustrator ⬩ Laying out fabric and cutting ⬩ Fashion Shows
⬩ Sewing construction and techniques ⬩ Hand stitching and Beadwork ⬩ Trade Shows
⬩ Sourcing fabric, knits, leather & notions ⬩ Stylizing with accessories ⬩ Retail sales & Marketing
⬩ Draping on dress form and fittings ⬩ Historical Fashion research ⬩ Spec/Tech sheets
⬩ Flat pattern making ⬩ Textiles ⬩ Entrepreneurship
FREELANCE FASHION DESIGNER INSTRUCTOR, New York, Colorado 2015 - Present
● Creatively developed curriculum for fashion design, fashion history, fashion illustration, sewing, art and painting classes to students who range from beginner to advanced levels
● Enthusiastically demonstrate and coach students prepared lessons and encourage teamwork.
● Inspire research projects to include historical information about past timelines and designers, their silhouettes, fabrics, colors and trends.
● Successfully demonstrate use of color palettes, various art mediums to include technology and hand drawing techniques for illustrations.
● Demonstrate fabric texture, prints, wovens, leather and fur in various art mediums.
● Achieve how various types of fabric lay and fall on the human figure.
● Encourage students to find inspiration through music, travel, photographs, language, cinema and books in creating their fashion collections.
● Innovatively present creative processes to students using technology and physical objects for Mood Boards to assist in designing a collection.