MORE ABOUT SIMONE
Born to a self-taught seamstress who dabbled in classes at FIT then went to pursue a career as Technical Pattern Maker in the Garment District of NYC, Simone Imaani is a creative woman who began her lifestyle as a prominent fashion icon and later added her creative talents towards the designing dresses with her mother and enjoy doing track and field, Math, Science, Spanish and practicing martial arts with her father.
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But then she decided to study international business with a Spanish minor and went to Mexico for Business Studies and while studying there she began to think of her business and how she could operate it in the country when she came back after completing the studies.
By 2016 she had enrolled in classes at the renowned Mood Fabrics Mood University with Project Runway’s Benjamin Mach. After the publisher she worked at downsized, Imaani took a break from digital media to fully focus on fashion design before landing her next gig.
She took time to explore what it would feel like to focus on fashion full time without distraction, developing a logo, ordering business cards, experimenting with website layouts and making garments for herself and friends. However, once she got back to work she found it more difficult to balance her career and passion.
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In August 2018, she left her role at a well-known media agency to take continuing education classes at FIT and started a fashion design company, Simone Imaani. By November, she had taken Adobe Illustrator beginner's course and a Fashion Sketching Studio with Stephen Broadway and launched Simone Imaani LLC. This momentum created her a path to apply for the BKLYN Fashion Academy, a very selective Brooklyn based fashion design program that gives designers the opportunity to showcase their talents.
Though she was amongst fashion school grads and experienced designers, her application was strong and the judges saw her abilities and she became one of the 20 designers selected to participate in the program. She completed her first fashion show in May 2019 under mentorship of Project Runway All Star Benjamin Mach. At a casting call to select her own models for the runway, she reconnected with the designer who designed her very first Miami carnival costume and was able to shadow and help design Caribbean carnival costumes with Sesame Flyers International for the 2019 West Indian American Day Parade.
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At current, Simone is fully focused on the launch of her own collection along while balancing some new and exciting opportunities! She continues of her life as a 4 year vegan and a natural hair advocate with a world record breaking afro.