Alumnus ‘Flipped Turned Upside Down’ With the Fresh Prince

Starring Will Smith, James Avery and more, “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” was a popular sitcom in the 90s that recently celebrated its 30th-year anniversary. Fashion in the 90s was dominated by simple styles, but full of patterns and colors. And you can see and buy those styles mixed with contemporary flair today thanks to Kent State University alumnus, Adam Forrester.

Forrester, ‘18, recently designed pieces for the “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’s” 30th-anniversary collection.

Forrester, a designer at Reebok, was contracted to design pieces for the 30th-anniversary collection.

“I worked on everything that was cut and sewn, all of the fashion items like the color blocks, the prints and all of the different jackets,” Forrester said.

Forrester said he pulled a lot of inspiration from the show while putting his own spin on the designs.

“Like Will Smith’s Blazer that he wears reversed using a paisley pattern,” Forrester said. “I got to pull from that and put a lot of cool 90’s details into everything.”

Forrester lives in Brooklyn, New York, where he is a full-time designer at Reebok Men’s. He works with mass-market apparel that can be found at stores like Dicks and Marshall’s.

Forrester graduated with a Fashion Merchandising degree in May 2018. While he was at Kent State, Forrester did multiple internships and studied abroad in Italy.

“The fashion program really gave me a lot of hope for the future,” Forrester said. “They gave you a lot of opportunities and allowed you to immerse yourself within the fashion industry.”

Forrester advises students interested in fashion to take advantage of any internship opportunities

“It doesn’t even have to be with something that you’re super passionate about, but just showing that you’re versatile and can do any job put in front of you speaks volumes,” Forrester said.

Forrester is currently working on another collection with another celebrity, which is expected to be available next year.

To learn more about the Fresh Prince collection, visit https://freshprincestore.com/.

To learn more about the School of Fashion, visit https://www.kent.edu/fashion.

POSTED: Friday, November 6, 2020 02:10 PM
Updated: Friday, December 9, 2022 01:12 PM
WRITTEN BY:
Jada Miles