Suzanne Mancini

After graduating from RISD, Suzanne Mancini received a Textron fellowship and moved to New York City. There she developed a broad understanding of the fashion industry by assisting designers at various levels and working in mass-market product development. After earning her MA in education she returned to Rhode Island to combine her two loves: fashion and teaching. Over the past 20 years she has taught in the areas of design and collection development while maintaining her own freelance practice focused on lingerie, menswear and home goods.

As part of the RISD faculty, Mancini has collaborated on work with the RISD Museum, Nike, Levi’s, Urban Outfitters and JC Penney. She has also co-taught with faculty in the Textiles department. She recently received a professional development grant to further her studies in digital pattern making for use in apparel and in the virtual prototyping of garments. This research has been pivotal in her most recent work and classes. She has recently participated on a panel engaging on the topics of fashion and technology at CUNY.