Otis College Fashion Design Program Finishes Academic Year with Stunning Mural Installation at Sea World
The Installation Capped Off a Year of Accomplishments
On Sunday, June 8, Otis Fashion Design students and faculty descended on SeaWorld San Diego to unveil a large-scale sea life mural created in collaboration with The Salvation Army. The installation debuted on World Oceans Day—taking center stage in front of SeaWorld’s Dolphin Stadium—and reflects a shared commitment to environmental stewardship and artistic innovation. The event follows an impressive showing of student work in partnership with mentors at the College’s recent O-Launch Exhibition Weekend in May.
While navigating finals season in May, fashion students created unique sea creatures for the mural, working exclusively with upcycled materials provided by The Salvation Army. Measuring 18 feet by 8 feet, the mural is fully sewn and mounted on a sturdy, sustainable base.
“This is more than an art installation—it’s a labor of love and a powerful symbol of sustainable creativity,” says Otis Fashion Design Chair Jill Zeleznik. “Our students transformed discarded textiles into something extraordinary. Their commitment, under such a tight timeline, speaks volumes about their talent, heart, and drive to make a difference.”
The mural will remain on display at SeaWorld throughout the summer, offering visitors the chance to learn about the project through QR codes, artist spotlights, and educational storytelling around circular design and ocean conservation. The students who contributed to the mural include Zhiyou Pan, Ran Tian, Tuula Zivin, Dena Nikzat, Han Yi, Caridad, Jill Patel, Surah Kotich, Ronan Oxley-Brown, Austin Kilby, Eva Jiang, Rebekah Wu, and Frank Ye; they worked under the direction of faculty members Mr. Alan Lee, Svetlana Mollov, and Zeleznik.
…But Make It Fashion
The students’ intricate work on the Sea World mural is one of many ways they’ve displayed commitment to their craft this year. The College’s annual fashion show is always an exciting end to O-Launch Exhibition Weekend. Models walk the runway, which spans the length of the Commons against a giant LCD screen backdrop displaying a kaleidoscope of imagery suited to each collection. The lighting is dramatic and the music pulsates. The stars of the show, of course, are the garments that students have spent the better part of a year ideating, sketching, constructing, fitting, and finishing. This year, over 120 looks by 80 juniors and seniors for 10 mentor projects were presented to an O-Launch crowd that had surpassed 4,300 guests throughout the day.
A highlight of the night was when senior Shota Higuchi was named Designer of the Year. Each mentor also presented awards to the most promising students from their projects, which included: junior Fatima Roman (awarded by mentor Cupshe); junior Ryan Jackson (VFiles); junior Violet Kim (Activision); junior Luna Yan and senior Victoria Ciavarella (David Rimokh/RTA); senior Van Le (Agolde); senior Evangelina Gamberdella (Jonathan Cohen); senior Andres Enomoto (David Meister); senior Lena Lee (Julie de Libran and Vanessa Khattar, sponsored by West Coast Exports); and Higochi, who also was recognized by mentor Zaid Affas.
An early glimpse of the students’ runway looks was on hand at the fourth annual Otis Atelier event held on May 1. Over 175 guests, including Sharon Stone, Ann Philbin, Katherine Ross and Michael Govan, TV personality Tai Beauchamp, designer Rod Beattie, and others viewed the juniors’ and seniors’ work. The event raised critical funds for first-generation scholarships at Otis and three special honors were presented. Stephanie Horton, Senior Director of Global Consumer Marketing and Strategy for Commerce at Google, received the Creative Innovator Award; Hector Muelas, the Chief Brand Creative Officer of Tiffany & Co., a LVMH Möet Hennessy Louis Vuitton company, received the Creative Visionary Award; and Fashion Design junior Madison Bigger was the second recipient of the Mandy Einstein Fashion Scholarship, which recognized her boundary-pushing designs and passion for sustainability.
Student Successes
In spring Ranze Zhang (‘24 Fashion Design) created a look for his senior mentor project with Zaid Affas that was later selected by Beyoncé to wear during the opening night of her Cowboy Carter concert tour. “I remember when I first entered this industry, [a friend] and I used to talk about career milestones—like the idea that if we could design for a certain someone before 30, we could quit fashion altogether. Beyoncé was the very first name on that list. And somehow, this lucky kid managed to achieve that goal at 23,” Ranze wrote in an Instagram post about the experience; check it out for behind-the-scenes images of Ranze creating the garment in the Otis fashion studios.
More Information About Otis College’s Fashion Design Program.
The prowess of Otis Fashion Design students was on full display earlier this year when Rand Cai (’25 BFA Fashion Design) had a design he developed as a junior, for a mentor project with Revolve, manufactured and sold on the fashion retailer’s website. The Rand Cai x Revolve Collection featured a 100 percent cotton jacket with a cropped fit and frayed detailing and matching flared jeans retailing for $428-$498. Desiree Neman, the in-house designer of the Revolve-owned denim brand, GRLFRND, chose to collaborate with Rand and sell his design on the site. “His look resonated most with the Revolve customer—we admired his innovative fabric manipulation and clean, modern silhouette,” said Mitch Moseley, president of Revolve Owned Brands.
The prowess of Otis Fashion Design students was on full display earlier this year when Rand Cai (’25 BFA Fashion Design) had a design he developed as a junior, for a mentor project with Revolve, manufactured and sold on the fashion retailer’s website. The Rand Cai x Revolve Collection featured a 100 percent cotton jacket with a cropped fit and frayed detailing and matching flared jeans retailing for $428-$498. Desiree Neman, the in-house designer of the Revolve-owned denim brand, GRLFRND, chose to collaborate with Rand and sell his design on the site. “His look resonated most with the Revolve customer—we admired his innovative fabric manipulation and clean, modern silhouette,” said Mitch Moseley, president of Revolve Owned Brands.
In spring Ranze Zhang (‘24 Fashion Design) created a look for his senior mentor project with Zaid Affas that was later selected by Beyoncé to wear during the opening night of her Cowboy Carter concert tour. “I remember when I first entered this industry, [a friend] and I used to talk about career milestones—like the idea that if we could design for a certain someone before 30, we could quit fashion altogether. Beyoncé was the very first name on that list. And somehow, this lucky kid managed to achieve that goal at 23,” Ranze wrote in an Instagram post about the experience; check it out for behind-the-scenes images of Ranze creating the garment in the Otis fashion studios.
More Information About Otis College’s Fashion Design Program.
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