Mary Margaret Quadlander created this school after a 20 year career as a Fashion Designer, and four years as a faculty lecturer in Design at The University of Texas and St. Edwards University in Austin, Texas.

Mary Margaret's education at the prestigious Fashion Institute of Technology in New York (FIT), including a Bachelor of Science at the University of Texas and work toward a Masters in Liberal Arts at St Edwards University have enabled her create a unique program for her students. After graduating from the University of Texas , Mary Margaret was accepted at the world-renowned Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. Graduating at the top of her class, she was awarded a scholarship to the School of Design in Paris, France. Within three years of graduating, Mary Margaret had started her own company and established her manufacturing facility in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. For the next twenty years, her collections were in such stores as Neiman-Marcus, Tootsies, Cache, and the notable Grace Jones of Salado. Her vast experience as a designer has enabled her to create the classes most suited to the needs of the student.

"I got the best training in Fashion Design from FIT, but not everyone can move to New York to study. I started this program at the request of my students as an avenue for them to enhance their skills. Almost immediately, I was asked to teach sewing to adults. In the freedom of women's liberation, a lot of the skills that our mothers learned were thrown out the window. I am grateful for liberation, but as we sit glued to the TV watching Project Runway and one cooking show after another, I realize that a whole generation threw Home Economics 101 out the window, and now we want to put some of it back into our lives. I taught my niece to sew when she was five, but she also plays soccer and basketball, and dances and sings. Her friends want to learn how to sew, and so do their mothers and aunts, and even some of their fathers and brothers!"

The idea behind the creation of this program was that it would be available for anyone who wanted to investigate design and to appreciate the effort that a designer puts into a collection, as well as understanding all of the skills one must learn to succeed at this trade. This is not a degree program, the students do not need to pass an admission test, and students are not given grades. I want the school to be a learning experience motivated only by the student's desire to learn. Several of my students have already started their own collections, and sold the collections to the stores, which shows what a motivated student can do!

ASHLEY RAINS was a student at our school, and after taking all of our courses, she joined our list of instructors. Her sewing skills and design skills are immaculate, and her enthusiasm is abundant. She is skilled in both modern clothing and movie-quality costume design. She wins almost every competition she enters, whether it is Victorian costumes or clothes for your pets! She is willing to tackle any design question and is now teaching some of the Sewing Classes, Flat Pattern, Felting and others. After a very short learning curve, in which I realized that she could master any sewing or construction skill, I asked her to become one of our instructors.

MELISSA TAYLOR is simply amazing when it comes to Fashion Illustration! She teaches our Tuesday evening Illustration course and Wednesday evening Flat Pattern. Her newest class is All About Knits on Monday evenings.

KATIE YATES is very skilled in all aspects of sewing! She taught sewing during our Children's Summer Camp program and continues with our classes for kids during the school year. She is also now teaching some Adult Beginning & Intermediate Sewing courses.

DREA DiPRETE taught Children's Beginning and Advanced Fashion Illustration. She is a gifted artist who will continue to inspire when we resume kids classes this fall.

JORDAN MARTIN has experience working in many different aspects of fashion design. She is especially skilled in Draping and teaches that class on Thursday evenings. She is also teaches some of the sewing and marketing classes.

JULIA PLUME entered our program to take classes, and after taking every class available to her, she immediately set out on her own to create her own Design Company. Within months, she had put her collection together and sold it to two of Austin's finest boutiques, as well as learning all of the complicated skills needed to produce a collection! She won an enormous design competition in 2007, which put her on the cover of the American Statesman five times that year. She is our newest shining star on the fashion circuit here in Austin, and we are excited to have her and her experience here. She teaches all of the classes that would walk the student through the process of designing and selling a collection. "Create, Manufacture and Market Your Collection" is primarily a discussion class that examines such issues as designing a collection, making patterns, where to buy fabrics, how to design your label, where to show your collections, choosing your sales reps, your showrooms, manufacturing houses, pricing, line sheets, and more. Unique to Austin, the class is full of the information that will help you find the resources you need, so take advantage of Julia's knowledge while we still have her here, for her free time to teach is becoming more limited!

RICK GONYO is the expert on Costume Design, specifically Renaissance, Victorian, Super Hero, Star Trek, Historic Asian, as well as costuming that is worn to all of the conventions. This is an addition to the school that is completely out of my realm of experience or knowledge. His incredible mental library of costuming for competitive events, including the many conventions for costumers to show off their work, the extent to which students want to portray authentic historically correct costumes, and last but not least, his own collection of costumes makes him a great instructor. He is the creator of all of the costuming classes.

My mission at Austin School of Fashion Design is to create a unique program with the most talented and experienced instructors available in Austin. If you desire to examine the fashion industry, as well as some of the couture techniques to sewing, the flat pattern and draping approaches to designing, and you want to investigate the professional skills needed to be a designer, our program will provide you with instructors that are professional, enthusiastic, motivating, and skilled. So check out the extensive list of classes we teach on the Classes page.