When you’re younger you have dreams of becoming a teacher, or a policeman, a nurse or even a firefighter. But for me it was much more than that fashion was everything! My teacher would ask what I wanted to be when I grew up; I would say I wanted to be just like Coco Chanel. Always begging my mom I need more clothes, for her to sew me more dresses, or getting a jump-start on the upcoming years Halloween costume design. Fashion wasn’t just a hobby it was my lifestyle. Growing up with a mother who worked in retail for almost 10 years at the infamous once Bugle Boy retail clothing store, and attended Lothian School of fashion, which is now the Art Institutes international of Minnesota. "As I grew older I grew more and more connected to the fashion world. From being in pageants, making my mom buy me all the latest Vogue Fashion magazines, taking months to find the perfect prom dress, to even winning “Best Dressed” my senior year of high school. Fashion was part of my everyday!

​

But in life I learned that there are obstacles and failures that you overcome and learn from which make you stronger. All my life I told myself when I was feeling down or low that you need to just be positive and smile. Life is too short to be upset or angry. People knew me as the person who could cheer up anyone or make them laugh if they were having a bad day! Or called me Miss smiley. Then my motto “Forever Smile" was born! From then on I told myself remember to... forever smile if I was I was feeling low. As time went on I got a tattoo of my life motto and hash-tagged it in all of my pictures on social media sites, always reminding myself…

​

Growing up we all learned to chase our dreams and fight for what we want most in life. For me my dream was to pursue a career in the fashion industry and I wasn’t going to stop until I did! When I got the acceptance letter to the Art Institutes in the Fashion Retail and Management Program, I knew my dream was becoming more real! I spent 4 years at the Art Institutes learning everything from textile fibrics, to product development, visual merchandising, to supply chain management systems. All threw out my college experience I told myself to Forever Smile and even used it for class projects. I added to my fashion dream to eventually wanting to create a clothing line that contributes profits to a depression foundation and even name it Forever Smile. I Believed Forever Smile helped me overcome obstacles/ road blocks and pushed me threw college. When the day came to handing in that final piece of paperwork to my school, I knew I was one step closer to my dream! After walking into the Brave New Work Shop, I then knew this was REAL! I walked to my table ready to present all my hard work to the world... I stopped and thought to myself Forever Smile...

 

​

~Morgan Twingstrom

​

​

​

​

​