Designer Coco Johnsen

Description	:	Born and raised in North Carolina, Coco Johnsen spent the majority of her childhood as a product of the foster care system. She was shuffled from home to home with her two older brothers, when finally at the age of twelve she settled at an orphanage where she lived til the age of seventeen. Coco proved to be an exceptional student, and upon high school graduation was awarded a Rotary Exchange scholarship to study language and culture in Brazil. While residing in Sao Paulo, she took a job to earn extra money at a luxury clothing boutique, thus beginning a passionate affair with fashion. Following her year abroad, she returned to the United States speaking fluent Portuguese, and possessing a deep sense of appreciation and affinity for the Brazilian culture. Upon her return, Coco matriculated at the North Carolina Central University in Durham, where she majored in Political Science. A few semesters into her degree she noticed a want ad in the newspaper for flight attendants. As her time in Brazil inspired her love for travel, she left school and began her thirteen year career as a flight attendant, working for Eastern Airlines, which became Pan American and eventually Delta Air. At age twenty, while working for Eastern, Coco was discovered in New York by an agent from Elite Models, who convinced her to pursue a modeling career. While simultaneously working for the airline, she used her buddy passes to travel internationally for modeling jobs, working for such famed photographers as David LaChapelle. After the atrocities of September 11th, Coco realized that she yearned for a change in her life and a fresh career path. As her modeling career exposed her to fashion from all over the world, she soon realized that her true love was indeed for fashion. Therefore, she entered the Fashion Design and Merchandising Program at FIDM in Los Angeles. During her studies, Coco has secured vital contacts and key investors, created her own company (JNC Fashion Corporation), and designed the first season of her signature collection: Coco Johnsen. Coco is now designing her 4th season for fall ‘09 which will debut at Los Angeles fashion week.