PORTLAND, Ore. — Venus Nova is an aspiring 16-year-old fashion designer and creator in the greater Portland area. She’s currently living out her dream of building an entire eight-piece fashion line for Portland’s 22nd Annual Fashion Week in August.
"Portland Fashion Week is for emerging, upcoming designers. We are really big on involving the youth in the community. So, that’s what I’m trying to do," Nova said. "And eventually I want to do my own thing and have my own fashion show."
Venus said her love for fashion stems from two places: her mom and TikTok's fashion community. She also has quite a supportive community. Nova has nearly half a million followers on TikTok who have joined her in this exciting new journey.
"I've just gained my following through kind of just posting about my life [and] my journey basically. And a lot of people can see the transformation of my style," Nova said. "I'm starting to post more fashion-related content and styling videos. I have a lot of fun doing those things, but it's a lot to take in sometimes and sometimes I just want to humble myself."
She told KGW that she started off by borrowing both her mother's and grandmother's clothes and styling them together in videos to make a brand-new outfit. But she's now determined to build a fashion line that blends her vision of "modern and traditional femininity" together with lace and pink silk material.
"This one does remind me kind of like a maid," said Nova, describing one of her pieces. "But I actually really like it because the lace is really cute. And it does give off that feminine feeling."
Venus has so far created three of her eight pieces. She ultimately hopes to inspire other young, aspiring fashion designers in the Rose City and across the country.
She shares the following words of advice to help people step outside their comfort zone.
"Just go for it and be honest," Nova said. "Like you won’t know until you actually try it. Also, it has to be authentic. You shouldn't do something someone else is doing."
Portland Fashion Week is Aug. 14-20. You can get tickets here to see her looks coming down the runway.