A New York fashion designer credits a Quincy high school program with her start
QUINCY - When we feature successful public school initiatives across Massachusetts, it's rare to see them come to fruition in a student's life.
In this case, an ambitious program in Quincy that started in the 1990s has paid off for an emerging artist.
Andrea Mary Marshall has become a successful fashion designer in New York. North Quincy High School teachers spotted her talent early, and that has paid off.
"It's really a dream come true...," Marshall says while strolling through New York's buzzing Garment District. "It's a continuation, but it's a challenge."
Artist and fashion designer Andrea Mary Marshall has a career she imagined as a child growing up in Quincy.
"I did start designing fashion in middle School in my bedroom," she says.
"My grandmother would take me to Boston - to go to the Museum of Fine Arts and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum - and I just remember falling in love with fashion through the paintings."
Specifically, the John Singer Sargent portrait of "Madame X," which was painted for the Paris Salon of 1884. A woman wearing a daring, iconic dress that became the inspiration for her brand Salon 1884.
"That black dress that Madame X is wearing in that painting is the epitome of style for me," Marshall says.
During Fashion Week in New York, Marshall is launching her second collection in partnership with Neiman Marcus, and she's thrilled with it.
"I love being a designer. I'm very grateful to have this brand, and it's just been a wonderful experience."
And it's already a smashing success.
Since Marshall launched Salon 1884 just over a year ago, it's had $1 million in sales.
"I designed this line for the modern woman and her unique approach to style."
Marshall's unique style was clearly innate, but it was encouraged early on in the Renaissance Program at Quincy Public Schools. She says it was essential to her education and success.
The program involved two hours every school day set aside for students in the arts to gather and share an immersive experience that matched task with talent.
"For me, it provided a place to be with like-minded students or make friends that had similar interests to me and to really nurture - and, you know, to nurture that creativity," Marshall remembers.
Longtime Quincy teacher Peggy Spencer says that when it was created in the mid-1990s, the original intent of the Renaissance Program was to encourage the potential of students like Marshall who excelled in the arts. She said when she hears a success story like Marshall's, she feels proud.
"We did well. We did something for that student, for their creativity, for their essence, for their soul. We were able to feed it, and we were able to encourage that kind of energy, that kind of attitude," Spencer said.
"I was lucky enough to be in a high school that supported the arts, but for me, my focus during high school was I wanted to move to New York City and be a fashion designer. I couldn't wait! I wanted to move to New York and go to Parsons and that was my focus," Marshall said.
Her higher education at Parsons School of Design and work for almost two decades in the fashion industry have all led to Salon 1884.
"I've done designing, I've done styling, I've done art direction. And that, for me, the level of experience I've had in different areas of fashion and fine art is what's given me the experience and the skill to be able to create my own line," Marshall says.
A line with ambitious women in mind.
"This brand is really for them - women who are empoweredwomen who want to feel classic and modern, empowered and cool, strong and sensual."
Women from Quincy to New York - just like the designer herself.
Andrea Mary Marshall is already planning her next project for Salon 1884 - a line of denim and handbags.
