Coming from a small town, Beaver Falls, with limited opportunities provided challenges for Love, but did not diminish his creative spirit. With the strong support of his grandmother, who raised him and inspired his self-motivation, passion and focus, he made it to AIP.
“I always knew I was going to do something creative,” Love says. “I was committed to the art.
“My grandmother, Gloria B. Love, always encouraged me and kept reminding me I had skills. It was her influence that sparked my interest in becoming an art instructor. She helped me with art homework, and would often sit and sketch with me. I know I got my creative ways from her; she is my biggest inspiration. Her approval matters to me—everything I do is for her.”
More than anything, one of Love’s greatest challenges was the thought that he would not be taken seriously.
“Within my small community, people looked at my passion as a joke or even worse, just a hobby,” he says. “Many had the mentality of believing that there was no way out for someone like me since I wasn’t playing football or basketball and wasn’t selling drugs. But I remained focused and kept pushing, and when I got to Pittsburgh, things really changed for me.”
It was during the 11th grade that Love decided to attend the Art Institute. It was a segment of the Rachel Zoe Project on television that became the catalyst that redirected his interest to fashion design. Spurred on by the bow ties worn by Zoe’s assistant, Brad Gorestky, Love began to try his hand at designing and making bow ties.
“I would use old socks and T-shirt scraps to create a bow tie and, since I couldn’t sew, I held them together with glue,” Love explains. “It was fresh and innovative—people were grabbing them up like hotcakes.”
With that money, he purchased fabric and then began to paint his own designs on the bow ties. Between the ages of 16 and 17, these original bow ties became his “signature” item.
By the time Love was 19, his own fabric prints became the trademark of his designs. Using Adobe Illustrator to draw a pattern, he’d then send them to a company that transferred the designs to fabric. Additionally, when he wasn’t using that technique to design fabric on the computer, he would often paint the textiles.
“Gerald is not only the future of fashion, but he is also a great role model for the next generation,” says Rikki Hommel, an instructor who helped him learn to sew when he first entered AIP.
“He is a creative individual who shows his love for fashion through his original designs,” Hommel says. “He is a role model because he follows his own rules and does not conform to what society expects—and he does so with confidence and poise.”
Love is excited about his future and will be relocating to Philadelphia to pursue his dream of ultimately having his own fashion line. His excitement stems from the ever-evolving nature of the fashion industry.
“I am always exploring new ways of creating,” Love says. “I’m always thinking and running ideas around in my head. The fashion industry does the same thing and is always impacted by creative thinkers and each day changing.
“This is why we are a perfect fit. I feel absolutely blessed to be in this business.”
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