Cara Benevenia: Weaving Your Future
The rustling of fabrics and the snipping of scissors. The clicking of the sewing machines and the steam of an iron. The sound of chatter and the shutter of cameras. These sounds are all too familiar to fashion designer and Marist College alumna, Cara Benevenia ‘17.
Benevenia's love for fashion design started during her childhood. Growing up in a small suburb in New Jersey, her passion for art and creativity shined through at a young age.
This led her to Marist, where she pursued a major in Fashion Design and graduated with her Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts in 2017. Benevenia was drawn not only by the school’s successful fashion program, but also by the liberal arts core education.
She shared her thoughts on how important it is to have a well-rounded education, which Marist supplies. “Having those experiences is integral to being human,” she said.
Benevenia described Marist’s Fashion Design program as “rigorous.” However, she noted that the program's focus on teacher and peer critique prepared her well for a career in the fashion industry, especially in creating and selling her line of woven luxury handbags.
Her favorite Marist professor was Radley Cramer, whom she said motivated her throughout her senior year when she found herself overwhelmed by the pressure and considered dropping out of school.
After a pep talk and hearing Cramer’s advice from his personal experiences, Benevenia decided to self-reflect, went home and spent time with her family.
There, she found herself and her inspiration from her family history and great-grandfather, an Italian immigrant and master tailor who worked for the men’s clothier American Shops in Newark and served high-end clients like Joe Dimaggio and Yogi Berra. She eventually came back to win Marist’s Designer of the Year for her senior thesis on colorful woven outerwear and apparel.
Benevenia shared the three important pieces of advice that she has taken away from her college experience at Marist. Firstly, she highlighted how crucial it is to chase after every opportunity, even the ones that do not necessarily apply to your specific major.
Benevenia said that applying to internships and seeking opportunities in other areas of the industry, such as accounting or marketing, would have benefited her in her other departments in her business, besides the design aspect.
Second, Benevenia said that full-time jobs should not be the only jobs you apply to because your future “is in freelance and generating your own income.”
Lastly, Benevenia reflected on how she did not give herself enough time for other extracurriculars other than fashion. With design being her main focus, she found herself so “locked in” that she didn’t explore other important aspects of life that she values today.
With this, she emphasized that students should join more activities, so they can meet new people in other industries, not just within their own. Nonetheless, all of the incredible individuals Benevenia has met throughout her journey in the fashion industry has been one of the biggest highlights of her career.
Struggling with mental health and balancing the social, academic and mental aspects of college is challenging, and it is real. Benevenia emphasized that it takes time to find our true selves and that it is okay to express your emotions and reach out to others.
“Surviving in the industry starts with fueling your body, physically, mentally and spiritually,” she said.