CNS STORY: Sew what? Catholic high school grad draws way to fashion design award

DESIGNER Dec-30-2009 (720 words) With photo. xxxn

Sew what? Catholic high school grad draws way to fashion design award

By Allison Kerfeld
Catholic News Service

BROOKFIELD, Wis. (CNS) -- Like many teenage boys, Nathan Braun spent his senior year in high school juggling academics, multiple sports and college decisions. But unlike most, he also was juggling sewing kits.

"Yeah, that was the funny thing. After football practice, I would carry a sewing machine with me in my gym bag," said Braun, an 18-year-old 2009 graduate of Pius XI High School in Milwaukee and resident of Brookfield.

Last school year Braun used his sewing machine to create designs in Pius' AP portfolio class, offered by the art department for college-bound artists. The rigorous workload landed Braun the Fashion Designer of Tomorrow award, presented by the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles.

The institute, one of the world's most prestigious fashion design schools and alma mater to many of the red carpet's biggest designer names, selected Braun's work from hundreds of applications to receive the award and a full scholarship.

For the scholarship competition Braun entered three sketches-turned-three-dimensional figures. His "out-of-the-box" thinking was what captured the judges' attention, said Steve Aaron, an assistant director of admissions at FIDM.

"Every mouth just dropped," said Aaron, who once worked with Pamela Skaist-Levy, the founder of the Juicy Couture fashion line. "And these are people who don't get impressed very easily. His sketches are just so far beyond what someone of his age should be capable of doing. They are just so sophisticated."

Aaron praised Braun's attention to detail, specifically the accessories of each outfit: shoes, jewelry, makeup. He believes Braun was born with the talent and said he had never seen anything this advanced without formal training.

From an early age Braun struggled with speaking and schoolwork. Eda Braun, Nathan's mother, said he used drawing to overcome his speech impairments and had to work hard to maintain a B average.

"He found the drawing and sketching to be his passion. It just came so easy for him," she said.

Braun remembers first loving to draw around age 4.

"My first fashion picture was when I was really little," he said. "It was a woman with humongous high heels. I drew it with crayons on a big wooden board."

Pictures of people, especially his mother, were staples during his youth. Yet, continuous athletic endeavors -- football, track, wrestling -- overrode the talent. There was never enough time to fully pursue it, said Braun.

"He would always do what he had to do, and then he'd start sketching in his own book with a headset on," said his mother.

Braun, who has three sisters, said he "got really into fashion drawing my freshman year, but decided not to tell anyone about it."

"Junior year, one of my buddies in homeroom opened the sketchbook and saw the drawings of fashion and models and he thought it was good," he said. "So I was like, 'Yeah. I mean, it's not a big deal. I like it!'"

Braun credits Pat Frederick and Catherine Burnett of the Pius XI art department with working with him to fine-tune his talent.

"Honest to God, I was definitely winging it," he said.

During portfolio class, Braun became serious about his drawing and began creating three-dimensional forms out of his sketches. His forte was creating clothing out of "weird" materials -- a seashell dress, a paper-bag suit and an umbrella dress, to name a few.

"I thought, 'If I can do this with cans, I can probably use a simpler material," Braun said. "The first time I actually learned how to sew, the machine started steaming. Everyone was like, 'Nate, no!'"

Challenges abound at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, but Eda Braun said her son's passion for sketching will sustain him during tough times.

"He is doing fantastic" in Los Angeles, she said. "He struggled academically through his whole life --except for art and gym classes. This past semester, he got all A's."

Nathan also has been "debating names for his label," she said. "He's thinking far ahead; he is motivated and passionate about design. He's preparing to go far."

Aaron, who has worked at the fashion institute for 24 years, also predicted Braun has a bright future.

"He is so talented beyond most students that I've had the opportunity to come in contact with," he said. "He will be very successful in his career. I do not doubt it."

END

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