Floria Hance-Morant became interested in design from her roommate as a college freshman. Floria, a University of North Carolina Greensboro student, says that roommate was enrolled in the design program and would always talk about her projects and what she learned. “I’ve always loved learning new skills and I hadn’t been feeling completely satisfied with my major. The next semester I enrolled into the intro class, and that was that! It’s been four and a half years of ups and downs, with crazy challenges.”
Floria describes her design aesthetic as eclectic, feminine and fun. She says her favorite thing about designing is seeing her idea come to life. “It’s always exciting to see a sketch turn into a tangible item. No matter how a project turns out, it’s still rewarding to see how it comes out.”
One of the most unique items Floria ever designed was for a class at UNCG. “The class had to find an issue in the apparel market, and in groups we had to do market research, make prototypes, and prepare a final piece. Our group did a pair of pants for toddlers that were adjustable, easy to care for, and would extend the life cycle of the clothes. We got great reviews from parents and our professor and it was cool to see how positive the response was to a potentially marketable product.”
Floria lists Lyn Devon, Orla Kiely and Elsa Schiaparelli as her favorite designers. If she could design for anyone, it would be Kim Schifino of the band Matt & Kim. Floria says “She wears a lot of casual clothes, but it’s always black and white. I think it would be interesting to design around her rock and roll aesthetic.”
