Stone Bank native rides love of horses to New York fashion world

Horses inspire some of the ideas Sarah Hoopes sketches out at her Stone Bank home. Hoopes is competing for a chance to design her own collection under the MUUSE label.
Horses inspire some of the ideas Sarah Hoopes sketches out at her Stone Bank home. Hoopes is competing for a chance to design her own collection under the MUUSE label. Credit: Michael Sears
July 07, 2014
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By Megan Trimble of the Journal Sentinel

July 07, 2014 0

Sarah Hoopes sometimes feels like she is living two lives: One as a budding fashion designer in New York City, and another as a small-town horse-rider from Stone Bank.

"Wisconsin feels like a vacation and paradise where everyone's nice and everyone's fun. It's a much different pace, but has great energy," Hoopes said. "New York, though, has great work energy and there are so many opportunities when you come here."

Now the 22-year-old Oconomowoc-area native is competing for a chance to design her own collection under the MUUSE label in the MUUSEx VOGUE Talents Young Vision Award competition. She was one of 150 finalists chosen from hundreds of contestants to compete in the public voting portion that runs until Friday. The top 50 will compete as semifinalists.

Sara Maino, Italian Vogue's senior fashion editor, will select a grand prize winner and 10 finalists for the online people's choice award winner to be announced during Copenhagen Fashion Week in August.

A different world

The upper east side of New York, where Hoopes now lives, is a striking difference from her family's equestrian farm in Stone Bank. While she grew up wanting to become a professional rider, following her veterinarian mother's love for horses, her focus turned to fashion in high school when she set her sights on the top-ranked fashion school in the nation.

Hoopes graduated from Parsons fashion design school in May with a bachelor's degree in fashion design. Parsons alumni include well-known designers Marc Jacobs, Tom Ford and Isaac Mizrahi.

Hoopes' mother, Chris Bessent, said the "light year's difference" of the family's farm with horses, dogs and cats didn't stop Hoopes from loving fashion.

"She used to dress up the cats," Bessent said. "And she always competed in riding, but I think she loved it a little extra because she got to have three different outfits."

Hoopes plans to stay in New York to focus on her next career goal of becoming a design assistant — the fashion industry's next step following an internship on the way to working up to designer and creative director positions. She has interned with John Varvatos, Calvin Klein Jeans, Tibi and DKNY.

While her passion took her to New York, Hoopes' fashion schooling was home grown. Sarah began with the Fashion Ninja in Milwaukee's Third Ward, and had her first fashion show there when she was a high school junior, Bessent said.

So as other high schoolers worried about standardized tests, Hoopes traveled downtown to build her portfolio.

14-hour days

Hoopes submitted five images from her thesis to the MUUSEx competition.

The thesis contained looks that had been in the works since August, and Hoopes said she logged 14 hours each day on the project from January to graduation.

"Fashion is an extremely labor intensive thing because it's a constant back and forth, where it's not necessarily that I come up with an idea, draw it on paper, make it and I'm done," Hoopes said.

When Hoopes looks at clothes, she pays more attention to the wearer's attitude and feeling and not how a garment is constructed. She seldom finds inspiration within fashion itself.

"I'm more of a conceptual person and get inspired by random ideas like the way in which a flower grows or the perception of how medication changes your ability to see around you," Hoopes said, adding she then builds a collaged visual story to get the concept's feeling to transfer to clothing.

Parsons studio professor Lyn Caponera said Hoopes stood out as a student right away and brought two to three times the amount of work she needed to class each day.

"Sarah would always say, 'It has to be perfect,'" Caponera said. "I have to say it tickled me that she wanted it so badly and was willing to go the length she did for her collection.

"The interesting fact about Sarah's work is the complexity of her designs exists in the forethought: The beauty of her work is first in its conceptual nature though the end garment, seeming effortless, is both modern and practical," Caponera said.

Hoopes was inspired to define who she was as a person in her thesis, so she started where she knew best: equestrian riding, an activity she has done since she was 3. But while other designers have used it for inspiration, Hoopes said, she considered the connection that the rider has with the horse while sitting in the saddle.

The connection, Caponera said, was the soul of Hoopes' garment.

When rider and horse are communicating well, Hoopes said, a spectator can hardly see any movement on the part of the rider. So, Hoopes used approaches like draping and materials like chain to create different weighting and movement in her looks.

Bessent said Hoopes' participation in the competition, which Bessent calls the "American Idol of fashion," proves that any kid, despite where he or she is from, can be successful if they're willing to work hard.

Caponera agreed.

"Some people think fashion is almost frivolous when that is so far from what it really is," she said. "A lot goes into it. It's not for the faint of heart."

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