Cecilia Monge M.S. Textiles ’23: Finding The Right Fit With Technical Design

In her two years at the Wilson College of Textiles, Cecilia Monge was a teaching assistant, fashion designer, researcher and student. From the minute she set foot on campus, Monge knew the institution was a perfect fit for her ambitious nature. 

“After getting that first tour of the Wilson College, I knew that in my time there, I wanted to take every class or independent study that I possibly could. I just wanted to get my hands on everything.”

Monge completed her undergraduate degree at Florida State University, where she majored in retail merchandising and product development (now called retail entrepreneurship). But after graduating, she realized she didn’t see herself entering a career as a retail buyer. 

“I wanted something more creative – and not quite fashion design – but I didn’t know where that would put me. I’ve always loved math and science, but I’ve always loved being creative as well.” 

Her professor at the time, an NC State graduate, was the one who pushed her to check out the Wilson College of Textiles. 

“‘You’ve got to go to NC State and check out the Wilson College’s textile programs,’” Monge remembers her professor saying. 

Sizing up industry practices

Students enrolled in the Master of Science in textiles degree are required to complete a thesis and may choose to research topics ranging from retail and brand management to textile technology. 

After taking notice of colloquial terms clothing companies use to describe size, such as “curvy” or “petite,” Monge decided to focus her research on clothing fit and body shape perception.

“I wanted to research the intersection of how people perceive their own bodies and if that perception matches their actual body measurements,” she says. “And then my suggestion to the industry was: Can the industry change how they’re marketing these products?” 

To find this answer, she conducted a survey and asked participants to choose a figure from a scale of body types that, in their opinion, most resembled their own figure. Then, she used a 3D body scanner to take the participants’ actual measurements and compared these to the self-reported responses. 

“I found that most people could easily determine what body shape they were, so I thought that was interesting. It basically makes my hypothesis null, but I thought that if a company could ever pick up that research and determine how aware customers are of their sizing, then it would make the marketing part a lot easier.” 

Fitting in time for creativity 

Balancing research, her own course load and hours spent as a teaching assistant for two Senior Studio (Threads) classes at the Wilson College, Monge didn’t let her busy calendar stop her from chasing creative ideas. 

One of those ideas was completing an independent study – and three-look collection – under the guidance of Assistant Teaching Professor Emily Law. 

The collection was inspired by three insects endemic to Costa Rica: the velvet worm, mud cricket and “Costa Rican Sailor” butterfly. 

“My family’s Costa Rican, so that was something personal that I brought into the design. I also wanted the collection to be more technically challenging, rather than super wearable; I wanted it to be like a costume.” 

Using free, leftover fabrics from the studio, taking advantage of the various open machines and even having a professional photographer capture the final looks, the collection was a testament to the tools and collaboration at the Wilson College. 

Finding a role in activewear

Now working as an associate technical designer at Rhoback, Monge primarily works on product fit and construction for women’s, men’s and toddler’s clothing lines. 

In general, technical designers bridge the gap between a company’s fashion designers and manufacturers, turning the team’s creative ideas into a product ready for the market. 

One of the main tasks is to create or update technical packages, also called “tech packs.” These packs act as product blueprints for manufacturers, containing instructions, material information and measurements. 

This covers about half of Monge’s role as an associate technical designer. The other half is spent measuring and preparing product samples for weekly fittings with the company’s founders, the head of design, and the textile and product development teams.

“When I present my style, I’ll say what season it is, what style we’re looking at and maybe what the original inspiration was. Then I’ll go into any fit and measurement notes that I’ve taken, so if something is out of spec, or if a part of the garment is not fitting as well as it should, I’ll share what my recommendation would be to fix that.” 

Ultimately, Monge says her varied experiences at the Wilson College – from designing knitted socks to finding vendors for the Threads fashion show – set her up to succeed in her current role. 

“I learned how to dive into completely new areas of learning and take it in stride. I also learned to have confidence in myself and know that no matter what I throw myself into, I will be able to handle it.” 

This post was originally published in Wilson College of Textiles News.