Fashion Institute alumna earns place in Paris show

A Shelley Felten design on the runway in Paris.

Shelley Felten’s career trajectory since graduating in 2017 from Salt Lake Community College’s Fashion Institute hit a high point this year with a Paris Fashion Week appearance in France to show off her unique designs.

Creators of the Flying Solo shows in New York and Paris (they run during Paris Fashion Week in each location) first saw examples of Felten’s work on her Instagram account last year. “Hot tip – be sure to keep current your Instagram, TikTok, Etsy, website, whatever platform you use,” Felten says. “You never know what opportunities will arise.” They wanted to feature her work in their 2020 show, but she just had a baby, and the pandemic was starting to change people’s travel plans – so, she declined. When the opportunity came around again this year, Felten jumped at it.

Shelley Felten - photo by, Michael Felten.

Felten’s path to Paris began as an SLCC fashion student in 2010-11. She hit pause on her studies and took a job working as a production assistant in New York on season 12 of the popular TV show Project Runway – she also worked for a designer on a men’s accessory line. She met her husband Michael Felten in 2013, moved back to Salt Lake City and by 2017 graduated from SLCC with an associate’s degree in Fashion Design & Merchandising. Felten, now living in Hilo, Hawaii, credits SLCC Fashion Institute professors Louise Pascoe and others for inspiring her along the way, but it was an internship with Nuno felt textile artist Jenny Hill that was life altering. “My passion for textiles was born, and I never looked back,” she says.

Nuno (a Japanese word meaning cloth) felting is a technique Felten describes as combining wool and silk and then essentially washing the paired fabrics by hand or machine in soap and water to permanently fuse the two and create an entirely new textile. “I loved the newfound control I had over my collection,” she says. “I could choose every detail down to the colors and textures. It was a dream come true.” Photos her husband took during a trip to Iceland inspired her graduation collection of designs. “The colors were stunning, out of this world, and I wanted to reflect that in my work. I chose to emulate the textures and shapes of rocks and waves in my designs.”

Shelley Felten's designs on the runway in Paris.

Fashion Institute program manager Mojdeh Sakaki invited Hill to demonstrate her Nuno felt art and noted how students responded, particularly Felten. “We are always looking for opportunities to enhance the students’ experience at the Fashion Institute,” Sakaki says. “When Shelley showed her pieces, I was impressed by the beauty, elegance and uniqueness of each of the ten outfits she exhibited. Here work was an absolute work of art.”

This past September, with press and photographers recording every moment, Felten’s designs were worn by models in the beautiful La Galerie Bourbon venue in Paris along with works by about 20 other jewelry and clothing designers. Her creations were also featured in Elle online and in photographs on multiple websites. “I would highly recommend this experience to other budding designers,” Felten says. Oh, and she might be a little more popular on Instagram these days.

“Shelley made us all very proud,” Sakaki says. “I look forward to seeing her one-of-a-kind labor of love pieces exhibited and enjoyed around the world.”

More of Shelley Felten's designs on the runway in Paris.