Hanna Nakaishi Reyes, a senior apparel design major, embodies the West Valley College promise: “Free College, Endless Possibilities!” Through connections made during her WVC journey, in fall 2025 Reyes will transfer to the Paris College of Art in Paris, France.
Studying fashion design in the global fashion capital was no foregone conclusion for Reyes, a lackluster high school student who grew up in Union City. She previously worked as a data analyst and in the escrow industry. Her dad manages a warehouse and her mom works in accounting. 
“Before I got to West Valley, I’d always been interested in fashion,” she said. “But I grew up lower class economically, so I chose other jobs out of survival rather than aspiration.”
Reyes calls her aesthetic alt, characterized by darker clothing, often featuring hardware and wider silhouettes. She also favors hand-crocheted pieces.
Now, at 27, Reyes is on the path to furthering her professional ambition to design formal menswear and, potentially, knitwear.
But first, it took a slowdown in the housing market and a 2022 layoff from her escrow company job to prompt Reyes to reconsider pursuing her lifelong fascination with fashion. Her research—and her bank balance—led her to focus on community college programs with West Valley rising to the top.
Any doubts about retraining dissipated on her first day of instruction in a fashion illustration course.
“It was probably, honestly, the first time I was truly happy continuing my education,” recalls Reyes, who soon thrived among like-minded students she characterizes as “very helpful and social.”
Helpful also describes her experience with faculty across disciplines, from design to nutrition.
Her nutrition science instructor, Wendy Bowers-Gachesa, Reyes said, “was so passionate about nutrition, it made me excited about going to her class. It made me more interested in nutrition and what I was eating.”
She credits her English instructor for strengthening both her writing and critical thinking skills. “It made me think more critically about my collection and what it meant: how I wanted to apply art to my design,” she said.
The biggest breakthrough toward reaching her goal, however, came in June 2024 when she participated in a six-day WVC Art and Fashion Study Tour to Paris, Reyes’ first trip out of the country. The program included visits to the Dior Museum, the Louvre, and the Paris College of Art (PCA).
Thanks to an interview arranged at PCA by tour leader and WVC instructor Lorrie McPheeters, Reyes met one-on-one with Lucas Maethger, PCA chair of Fashion Design. The college, its culture, and address all felt like a custom fit.
Capping it all off, Reyes said: “Lucas has connections to work in Fashion Week in Paris. That’s an opportunity I couldn't pass up.”
For a preview of what Reyes’ design eye will bring to future fashion, catch an exhibition of her creations at WVC’s Annual Fashion Show, starting at 8:30 p.m. May 16 in the Visual Arts Building. The show is held in conjunction with West Valley’s three-day STEAM’D Fest, highlighting graduating students’ work from across the Cilker School of Art and Design and the School of Science and Math.