Richelle Valenzuela joins Marist as a Professional Lecturer of fashion design. He has worked with designers Asher Levine, Miri Couture, and Emerson by Jackie Frasier-Swann; various design companies such as Necessary Objects for Macy’s BarIII private label and Bloomingdales’ Aqua private label; and many independent designers. His educational and professional background is tailored towards womenswear, but over the years he has designed menswear as well. He graduated from the Academy of Art University with an M.F.A. in fashion design, and his master’s thesis collection was shown at New York Fashion Week at Bryant Park in 2009. His collections have also been shown at Charleston Fashion Week (2015) and South Walton Fashion Week (2015 and 2016), where he won the 2016 award for Emerging Designer.