I met Cate Stiffler during my summer at LIM College Fashion Lab. She is aged 17, from Naples, Florida, where "there are a lot of old people, like, a lot." Right away, she struck me as a girl with a sunny attitude and had some interesting things to say. She did not fall short of those expectations, but as I got to know her, I realized she was so much more. Not only does she have a big personality and big dreams, but she doesn't just sit around and let her dreams rot away in the corner; Cate chases them. And she chases them. And she chases them.
Exhibit A. Basketball.
Cate started playing basketball when she was 7. Now, she is the leading scorer and MVP for her school. This year, she made the all-area team and helped her school win the district championship for the first time in its history. As she spoke, her voice exuded passion and her eyes became illuminated. Even though Cate is an exceptional basketball player today, it was not always like this. In fact, what drew her to basketball was that she was not naturally gifted. "I'm short. I'm"-- she said under her breath--"white. I'm not the fastest person. I'm not super muscular." Having to work for it just made the results that much more satisfying.
Exhibit B. Key Club.
"Key Club is my favorite thing in the whole world!" For people who aren't familiar, Key Club is the oldest and largest service program for high school students. Cate is the president of her school's Key Club. Just like any other position of importance in an organization, Cate had to work her way up. "I was the editor, and then I was the treasurer, and now I'm the president of Key Club." Although she didn't elaborate much on this subject, it is clear that her drive and diligence were determining factors of her success.
Exhibit C. Education.
Growing up, Cate's parents have always been mindful of her education. As a result, this ideal is ingrained into her system. Prior to our interview, Cate and I bonded over our struggles with AP courses over coffee. She expressed losing sleep and giving up a large chunk of her social life so she could pass AP Biology. She also noted that she had so many biology lectures saved on her phone that she would listen to before falling asleep. Even though she expressed that detail with some embarrassment, I found it incredibly admirable.
Cate's achievements were not given to her on a silver platter, but rather, were the result of her hard work. So nothing's to say that she won't make it big in the fashion world.
Cate has always had a special relationship with fashion. Even though she is probably one of the most outgoing and confident people I've ever met, she was not always like this. When she was growing up, "I was this short little fat girl. I had pimples and glasses... I got made fun of a lot... I was definitely not confident with myself at all!" However, through fashion, Cate was able to find herself.
"In the third grade... I wore an eggplant colored poncho and it had little flowers on the bottom and I had jeans on that had flowers down the side and I had pink shoes with flowers on them. That outfit-- I felt so confident in it!" That day, instead of making fun of her, the older girls complimented her poncho. Up until this day the feisty Floridian expressed that whenever she was feeling down or was having a bad day, she would feel better when she put on a cool outfit.
Cate has always had a special relationship with fashion. Even though she is probably one of the most outgoing and confident people I've ever met, she was not always like this. When she was growing up, "I was this short little fat girl. I had pimples and glasses... I got made fun of a lot... I was definitely not confident with myself at all!" However, through fashion, Cate was able to find herself.
"In the third grade... I wore an eggplant colored poncho and it had little flowers on the bottom and I had jeans on that had flowers down the side and I had pink shoes with flowers on them. That outfit-- I felt so confident in it!" That day, instead of making fun of her, the older girls complimented her poncho. Up until this day the feisty Floridian expressed that whenever she was feeling down or was having a bad day, she would feel better when she put on a cool outfit.
Even though her parents are not ecstatic at her desire to pursue fashion in the future, there's no stopping Cate. She loves the business side of fashion, so an ideal job for her would be fashion merchandising. Otherwise, "my dream is to work for Vogue... I want to work for a big magazine and work my way up." She sure has a lot of experience with that.
One of Cate's biggest fashion influences is, of course, Paris. Her love of elegant silhouettes like the empire waistline stemmed from her love of classic Parisian fashion. What you might not expect, however, is that, according to her, "sometimes I feel like I'm a gangster rapper deep inside... look at me! I am in no way, shape, or form ghetto, but I like to dream". When I asked her what a Cate Stiffler line would be composed of, she exclaimed that she could do the two alter egos of Cate: Classic Parisian and Gangster Rapper. Her eccentricity sends out the message that we don't have to be one thing or another as long as we just be ourselves!
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