Tiffany Bui is a master’s student at the Academy of Art University, graduating with a degree in Fashion Product Development in the spring of 2020. Previous to her educational career at the Academy of Art University, Tiffany began her bachelor’s degree studies international studies with a minor in marketing. Around two years before attending the Academy of Art University, Tiffany pursued a career in product licensing, where she learned a lot about the inner workings of the industry.
While growing up Tiffany loved fashion, but she was not sure whether a career in that direction would be accepted in her “traditional Asian family”, but she decided two years into a biology degree that she wanted to follow her passion in fashion and got a great outcome.
Tiffany’s biggest inspiration comes from the world around her. She is very observant of new trends and cultures surrounding her, which comes from her previous education in international studies. She likes to use the people around her as inspiration through “gaining an understanding of worldview, tastes, and preferences from [the] different people” surrounding her, “I get to combine all my loves of fashion, culture, and business”.
Like all creatives, Tiffany struggles with expressing her creativity, in which she advised people going through the same thing to “take a breather”. It took her a while to figure out a technique that works well for her, “sometimes you’re concentrated on the creativity so much that your mind gets congested with your own struggle”. In order to develop her creative process, she enjoys “building a whole design concept or working on one specific design”. She usually builds up and expands on things that catch her eye, it could be “a simple picture, a color, or design detail”.
From her experience at the Academy of Art University and her roles, while working in the fashion industry, Tiffany learned that “knowing the target customer [is important, along with knowing] how to communicate to them effectively”. These strengths led her to many successful projects worth months of hard work. She is most proud of her thesis project where she developed seven collections within the time frame of 2 semesters.
After graduation, Tiffany plans to move to New York where she will be the assistant designer for Kohl's. This was one of her goals and she is very proud and excited to see what her future holds.