Daniel Herbick, 18, designed and made one friend’s prom dress and another friend’s graduation dress.
He also made four dresses and two jackets that landed him a $500 scholarship from the Greater Washington Fashion Chamber of Commerce, an organization that promotes business interests of those in the fashion and design industry.
“I make a lot of clothes for my friends,” Herbick said. “And I guess I love the feeling when I make something for them and they love it and wear it all the time.”
Herbick will use the $500 for sewing materials and supplies he will need at Syracuse University, where he applied to an introduction to fashion design program, said his mother, Tanya Herbick.
“Everything’s so expensive these days,” Tanya Herbick said. “Especially as a fashion design major, you have a lot of extra expenses ... that’s how it helps him; just to be able to afford [supplies].”
Herbick did not apply for other scholarships, but did receive a Chancellor’s Scholarship, an academic award, from Syracuse University to the tune of $8,000 per year, Tanya Herbick said.
The Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School graduate wrote an essay about his point of view on fashion and mailed a garment to the judges. This earned Herbick one of four slots in a runway show at the Warner Theater in November, he said. About 60 people applied.
The dresses and jackets worn on the runway were off-white, with the exception of one purple item, he said.
“Normally I get inspired by colors and then I tend to think of what shapes a garment would be or what the garment would be,” Herbick said.
Herbick began sewing in ninth grade, he said, when a friend told him to take a class. Now, he plans to pursue his talent through college.
“[My inspiration] comes from a lot of random places, like people that I see or just objects that I see that are really fascinating,” Herbick said.
He mainly designs women’s clothing, but has created a few men’s items as well.
“When my friends want things, I just make them,” he said.
abryant@gazette.net
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