Gavi Ramirez, Founder & President, Fashion Public Library, photo by Island Photography
Gavriela (Gavi) Ramirez’s academic focus explores how fashion knowledge is produced, preserved, and shared through public institutions. Long involved in fashion but uncertain how to create positive change, she ultimately found her path.
Gavi Ramirez, photo by @twotimestheshooter
On May 15th, Gavi received her MPS (Master of Professional Studies) in Fashion Management from the Parsons School of Design. This rigorous one-year graduate program is designed for those eager to lead innovation in business and management within the fashion industry. Many students in this program are fashion designers seeking to start their own brands, which sets the stage for Gavi’s unique academic focus.
“Some great icons graduated from Parsons, and hopefully I will be one of them!” – Gavriela Ramirez, Founder & President, Fashion Public Library.
Gavi, photo courtesy of Gavi Ramirez
Since the Parsons program runs through August, Gavi has the entire summer to work on her thesis: How can a public, fashion-specific library serve as a hybrid civic institution to address gaps in preservation, access, and community engagement in fashion?
Gavi is hard at work, photo courtesy of Gavi Ramirez
Gavi’s research led her to transform her thesis into creating the Fashion Public Library, a physical hybrid civic institution that addresses fashion research, preservation, access, and community engagement.
“I am not a fashion designer but an academic. I don’t make clothes, but I love the fashion industry, and I love to wear clothes, so this is me finding my place in the fashion universe!” – Gavriela Ramirez.
Gavi began developing her idea in her Entrepreneurship class at the start of the fall semester. Driven by ambition, she is thinking big. In a recent phone interview, she impressed with her clarity and drive, embracing adult decisions at 30. Gavi is already recognized in New York City’s fashion scene, working as a stylist, model, and runway creative director.
Jeffrey Banks autographs his book for Gavi
She has been featured engaging with industry leaders, including a live “Ask Me Anything” session with The Business of Fashion to discuss global industry trends. “My favorite form of archive preservation is storytelling; specifically, the histories of Black voices in the fashion industry. Those who succeeded, led, and reshaped the narrative deserve to be documented”.
While there are a few fashion museums, Gavi notes that none are set up for the public to visit, sit down, research, and study. The closest comparison is the International Fashion Research Library in Oslo, Sweden, where the public can find documents unavailable online. However, it is research-specific and lacks the community engagement feature she envisions for her library.
The rendering of a research room surrounded by displayed fashion pieces
Gavi’s vision for the Fashion Public Library is to create a nonprofit organization operating as an academic and community institution. Its primary goal is to provide the public with access to a multidisciplinary collection of fashion materials (books, magazines, and multimedia), while fostering community engagement and education about fashion.
Gavi wants to provide articles, magazines, and books, but she also aims to create a welcoming space. She has created conceptual library images using AI tools like ChatGPT and Midjourney.
The rendering of a Fashion Watch Party with an academic twist
Gavi hopes to get consumers to come into the building by making it more tech- forward. She would love to have a room with augmented reality goggles for people who want to immerse themselves in a specific fashion runway show, including those held outside major cities.
The rendering of a WhoWroteWhat event featuring authors to discuss the book they wrote and offer signings.
Another idea is the “Who Wrote What” segment. They would invite authors of books or case studies to speak to an audience about their findings, which they would share with the fashion industry. She would also love to host a fashion runway watch party with an academic twist, where the library invites guests from the fashion house to give a mini-lecture on the garments on display.
Gavi imagines a 10,000 -15,000-square-foot space, with one large auditorium and a smaller flexible event room. She envisions rooms lined with bookshelves holding fashion books and multimedia.
Gavi vacationing in Samana, Dominican Republic, photo courtesy of Gavi Ramirez
The ideal location is the Garment District, giving the library historical significance since fashion has its roots there, says Gavi, who was born in Orlando, Florida, and is a citizen of both the U.S. and the Dominican Republic (“everyone in the Dominican Republic loves Oscar de la Renta”).
Gavi in Little Italy, photo by Tom Gomes
Gavi earned a BA in Marketing from Florida International University. Before Parsons, she worked in data analytics and is also a full-time model. Represented by Next Management in Florida, she did commercial and swimwear modeling but prefers not to pose in bikinis.
Gavi Ramirez, photo by @kristenweaverstudio
In New York, Gavi is represented by Unite Unite, a boutique agency founded in 2013 by Claudette Martin, a former makeup artist. Many assignments are for makeup brands, but Gavi does not focus on this area.
Gavi is working with lawyers from The Fashion Law Institute to provide pro bono support to protect her name and concept. They are also assisting with finding space and real estate contracts.
Gavi, photo by @momentumstudioswp
Gavi doesn’t see herself accepting funding and donations for at least a year and a half. Once the filing is complete, it takes about 6 or 7 months to receive approval from the Department of Education and the Secretary of State, since it’s a nonprofit.
It will be a long, complicated process, but Gavi is prepared.
LATEST COMMENTS:
FROM: American fashion designer Ralph Rucci: A major home run! How extraordinary this young lady is, and along with her…
FROM: American fashion designer Ralph Rucci:
A major home run!
How extraordinary this young lady is, and along with her very original and extraordinary visions, how very necessary they are to our professional and, more importantly, to our culture.I am enormously excited to use the Fashion Public Library, specifically, the Research Room (as if I were stlll in college!)
Thank you for bringing this most dynamic Gavi Ramirez to our attention! Indeed, she is a visionary for the future and a woman of style in our metier. This is precisely the type of touchstone story that LOOKONLINE has always pioneered. We need more inspiring reportage like this and not the insanity of women wearing big hats for lunch in Central Park.
– RALPH RUCCI