By Hannah Richardson, Lifestyle Editor
We all have goals we want to achieve in life and some might be more ambitious than others. For Caitlyn Fredieu, she’s known almost her whole life what she wants to do and she’s willing to take the steps necessary to make her dreams a reality.
“I have wanted to do fashion ever since I was a little girl. I couldn’t imagine myself doing anything else,” said Fredieu.
Fredieu graduated from Lakeview High school in 2014 and moved to San Antonio with her boyfriend in July of that year. She was accepted into the Art Institute and recently graduated with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Fashion Design.
Fredieu currently works at Macy’s and has previously worked a Hollister, where she would model the clothes in store. She started at Macy’s in 2015. She was an INC Specialist for a year then became a free People Specialist and moved to Cosmetics earlier this year. Her passion still lies in fashion design, which she has made big plans for in her future.
“For the future, I plan to work for a designer first so I can learn more. I feel like there is still so much for me to learn. I plan to stay in San Antonio for a little bit longer then eventually move to California and try to build my own fashion line, which will be called Fredieu,” she said.
She recently debuted her senior collection, which required multiple pieces that were featured in a photo-shoot and had to have a concept behind it. “Mine was inspired by a vintage Paris feel,” said Fredieu. It has a lot of pinks, floral, and hand beading. I wanted it to be very classy and elegant but with a little bit of an edge to it.” She designed, cut the fabric and sewn everything herself.
Model: Summer Weisneke
She knows all too well that dreams don’t come true without a little hard work.
“To be completely honest, I did have some hesitation. This past year was definitely the hardest for me. There were times where I just wanted to give up and drop out,” she said. “I stuck with it. I kept telling myself to ‘keep going, it’ll be worth it in the end!’ I knew I would regret it if I just gave up like that.”
For Fredieu, much of her motivation comes from making her family proud. “I do a lot of the things I do for my family back home. They keep me going, especially my mom. There is no way I could’ve made it without her. She is my rock. I thank her as much as I can for everything she has done for me. And now that I finished, I look back and I am so thankful I did not give up. Things do get better. You just have to keep going.”
“For the people who want to pursue their own dream, I would tell them to DO IT. Whenever I told people back home that I wanted to move, so many of them said I wouldn’t last two weeks. I even thought I wouldn’t be able to make it. But I did. And if I can do it, anyone can,” she said. “You have to believe in yourself. If you don’t do something for yourself, you will regret it in the end. I still have big dreams. I want to travel the world. I want a huge, successful fashion line. I want my items to be shown for Paris fashion week. I don’t know if any of it will happen for me but I will work my butt off for it and see. Dreams do come true. They CAN happen.
