My name is Ellie LaVia. I am Senior at Colorado State University studying Apparel & Merchandising, with a concentration in Product Development. I am from a neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois, that is a short car ride away from downtown. I lived in Chicago, until I was ready to experience "the real world" on my own. While my family is a huge part of my life, I thought it would be beneficial for me to experience a new town and people, in an environment that was completely foreign to me. After interacting with people on & off campus, as well as, seeing the foothills up close, I fell in love with Colorado.  

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I am passionate about creating new & exciting apparel, designs, and accessories for range of underserved markets, such as the LGBTQ+ community. I have recently grown a passion for creating multifunctional garments & accessories, as a way to extend the life-cycle of the product and increase the versatility in a persons everyday outfit. 

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With this website, I hope to give you a glimpse into the inspiration/process behind my prototyped bags & designs, how everything came together, and projects that I have worked on in the past, that I thoroughly enjoyed creating