Sydney L Hawes

After winning a national award in high school for designing & constructing a dress out of Starburst wrappers, Sydney went on to study Fashion Design at the Fashion Institute of Technology with a specialization in Childrenswear. She began her career on the design team of a start-up menswear label owned by Jay-Z, which honed her skills to become a specialist in jumpstarting small brands with big projects. After spending some years in the NYC streetwear industry, Sydney moved on to Oakland, California and began her own business consulting in fashion marketing and social media. Several years later, she joined the Chubbies Shorts team as their first Apparel Designer, affording her the opportunity to travel the world & experience overseas manufacturing first hand. Sydney made headlines at the 2021 Presidential Inauguration for designing and sewing leopard faux fur coats worn by Meena Harris’ daughters while she was the Design Director for I Love Plum. Since moving home to New Bedford, MA, Sydney started part-time lecturing in the Fashion Design department at the CVPA, Umass Dartmouth. Most recently she has stepped into a new role as Costume Designer for New Bedford Festival Theatre and Salve Regina.