Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

His fashion future is all sewn up

Michael Varga hopes to make a name for himself. One as recognizable as Dolce and Gabbana, Prada and Chanel.

By MARY SPICUZZA
Published May 28, 2006

	[Times photo: Zach Boyden-Holmes]
	Michael Varga, 15, left, helps Adam Mitchell, 17, with his costume before a rehearsal of A Doll's House recently at the Renaissance Academy in New Port Richey. Varga, who plans to move to New York after graduation to work as a fashion designer, made the costumes for the school production.

NEW PORT RICHEY - Michael Varga dreams of Tyra Banks.

"If I could just meet her, I'd kiss her feet," the aspiring fashion designer said. "I want to see her walking in my clothes."

He watches all of her television shows. America's Next Top Model. Victoria's Secret fashion specials. The Tyra Banks Show.

Varga, 15, admires not just her fashion sense, but her attitude.

"If you have curves, you should appreciate them," he said.

Varga is, for now, a high school student at Renaissance Academy in New Port Richey. But armed with his Sears Kenmore sewing machine, which he calls Old Gertrude, and his mannequin, Gisele (named after Gisele Bundchen), one thing seems clear.

His destiny will be a very fashionable one.

After graduating from Renaissance, an independent school of the arts on Corporate Way in New Port Richey, Varga plans to move to New York and focus on fashion design full time.

But he has already been designing for years. His aunt, Nadine Weiderer, has pictures of the first outfit he put together about six years ago.

"He was 10 years old, and it was a two-piece bathing suit that he just cut out the material and tied it up," she said. "No sewing!"

Varga says he actually used to be "very undedicated."

"But now I know that if I have to do something, I have to do it," Varga said.

Janine Walker Caffrey, principal of Renaissance Academy, traces his transformation into a serious designer to the spring of his seventh-grade year. That's when he participated in a thespian festival and designed the costumes for Peter Pan. He won the state critics choice award for costume design.

"That just seemed to be the turning point for him," Caffrey said. "Ever since then, he's been driving toward it."

At school, his drive is clear.

Varga can often be found, yellow measuring tape around his neck, working with Old Gertrude and Gisele.

He recently made the costumes for his school's production of A Doll's House.

He sketches numerous designs and executes them using everything from velvet to faux fur.

Everything except real fur.

"I do not believe in killing animals for fur. If you were an animal, how would you feel?" Varga said. "Bunnies, minks, chincillas. It's pretty barbaric."

He has made dresses for friends and teachers.

Then, in March, he won the Renaissance Academy talent contest. He designed and made the clothes, and he taught his fellow student "models" all the rules of the runway - even donning a dress and high heels to help them learn to walk.

He describes the experience of his premier fashion show as "scary," and ended up waiting in the privacy of his school's bathroom for the judges to decide.

"I was, like, sitting there," he said. "Until my friend came in and said, "Nobody really has an imagination like you do."'

His friends have helped, but Varga has also had to look beyond Pasco County for his fashion inspiration.

He follows the lives and work of different models and designers. The dark-haired women of Dolce and Gabbana. The fair-skinned women often favored by Prada.

His favorites are the classic looks.

"The original Chanel and Breakfast at Tiffany's ," he said. "Oh, God, I loved that."

Still, he knows that the world of fashion has its problems. He hopes to conquer some of the darker aspects of the industry, especially the popularity of sickly thin models he believes promote anorexia and bulimia.

"Do you want to see a sack of bones?" he said. "I hate seeing really skinny women wearing the low v-necks."

Varga is especially concerned about body image because he, too, struggled with anorexia. He started skipping meals at age 11. He'd overexercise, then have just a snack for dinner. He was convinced that his shoulders were too fat.

"I kind of hid myself from it," he said. "I was going through a really rough time."

He also struggled in his Pasco County elementary school after he told another student a secret.

"I said, "I'm gay,"' Varga said.

Word spread fast. His principal at the time told him that he was too young to decide.

Things are much easier for him at Renaissance.

"In this school, I'm very protected," he said.

He's found that teachers there encourage his individuality.

For example, his art teacher Jenny Burton recently gave his class an assignment on nostalgia.

Varga chose another of his fashion icons: Twiggy.

"She made it okay for women to wear mini skirts," he said.

He gathered together a scrapbook of photographs. He searched for a model he could transform into Twiggy using fake eyelashes and mod clothing. But he couldn't find anybody to play the part, until talking it over with Burton.

"Finally, he said, "Can I just be Twiggy?"'

--Mary Spicuzza covers education in Pasco County. She can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6241 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6241. Her e-mail address is mspicuzza@sptimes.com

[Last modified May 28, 2006, 01:27:10]