Leslie Browning- Samoni

I started my career in fashion after studying textile design and fashion design as an undergraduate. Right after graduation, I worked in New York City at Echo Design Group for about 6 years in various roles within their accessories design division. While working full-time, I completed my master's degree through NYU in a program based at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which really deepened my understanding of fashion history and museum exhibitions. I then became a print specialist for Victoria's Secret, where I made sure all the materials used for their products matched correctly under different lighting conditions. After that, I spent about 5 years as an accessories designer at Liz Claiborne, then moved into home furnishings doing bedding at Franco Manufacturing, where I had the opportunity to work with designers like Karim Rashid, Jonathan Adler, and Kelly Wertzler. One of my most well-known pieces was the Hannah Montana bed with the big circles on it. Throughout this time, I taught as an adjunct at different places in New York and New Jersey. After having my first child in 2009, I transitioned into full-time teaching in 2010 at Philadelphia University, teaching fashion merchandising. I've been at Texas Christian University for about 6 years now as an Instructor 2, focusing primarily on textiles. My work has evolved to include leading research teams on NASA challenges, where we develop solutions for problems like keeping lunar dust out of spacesuit seams. Last year, my team won Best Innovation at a NASA challenge, and one of my students won second place in the Amentum Hero X competition and received a prestigious Lead On award with $5,000 to continue her research. I also completed my PhD at Iowa State over 7 years, writing my dissertation on AI and ethics in the classroom. I'm passionate about helping students see unexpected connections between fashion and other fields, and I believe curiosity is the key to finding new pathways in any career.