Talk or Panel *From Runway to Classroom: Designing a Future Where Everyone Belongs – Insights from Ashley Nell Tipton, Project Runway Winner.
Talk or Panel *From Runway to Classroom: Designing a Future Where Everyone Belongs – Insights from Ashley Nell Tipton, Project Runway Winner.
Fashion designer, educator, and Project Runway winner Ashley Nell Tipton reflects on how design can create visibility, confidence, and belonging. Through the story of her groundbreaking Project Runway finale collection, her continued exploration of roller-skate design, and the work of her emerging student designers, Ashley will examine what it means to create fashion with a purpose that extends beyond a single season. Her presentation explores the evolution of a designer from finding the courage to challenge an industry to helping the next generation recognize the importance of their own ideas.
Ashley invites audiences to think beyond trends and consider how thoughtful, inclusive
design can leave a lasting impact on the people who wear it, the students who create it,
and the communities it represents.
About the Host
Ashley Tipton
Ashley Nell Tipton is an award-winning fashion designer, educator, entrepreneur, and
advocate for body acceptance and inclusive design. She made history as the first designer
to present a plus-size finale collection and win Project Runway, Season 14, helping to
expand the visibility of plus-size women within the fashion industry.
With more than a decade of experience in fashion design, garment construction, product
development, and entrepreneurship, Ashley has built a career centered on representation,
creativity, and self-expression. Her work has included designing inclusive fashion
collections, collaborating with national brands, mentoring emerging creatives, and
encouraging people to embrace their bodies and personal style.
Ashley is currently a college fashion professor in San Diego, where she teaches fashion
design, sewing construction, draping, digital fashion illustration, and industrial production.
Through her teaching, she helps students develop both the technical skills and confidence
needed to find their voices as designers. Her work continues to explore how fashion
education and inclusive design can create meaningful and lasting change.
