“I believe that my hands are a blessing and I am compelled to use them in a way that pleases others. Clay is the vehicle and Fashion is the expression. I look for an emotional response from the viewer – an understanding of the woman who resides in each form – and this feeds my creative spirit.”
– RENÉE CHASE (Founder)
My career exemplifies the entrepreneurial spirit, having worked as a small business owner, fashion designer, technology enthusiast and Director of Fashion Design at Drexel.
After receiving my Bachelor of Science Degree in Fashion Design I launched the Renee Manufacturing Company, acting as both CEO and art director. From 1971 to 1981, 25 employees and I created a sportswear collection from sketch through production. The Renee label was sold in more than 200 department stores and boutiques with showrooms in five major American cities.
By the early 1980s, I joined the Philadelphia Bulletin as a fashion staff writer. I interviewed designers, reported on runway events and provided consumer advice. I became a full-time associate professor of design at Drexel circa 1985 and took over the leadership of the Fashion Design Program. I went on to obtain a master’s degree in Science and Technical Communication in 1990.
Before my retirement in 2017, I was a tenured professor at Drexel University’s Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts and Design. Drawing on my experiences and inspirations, I helped to set-forth two goals for the program: fashion as art and technology of fashion. I was honored and humbled to receive the highly coveted Lindback Award for Teaching Excellence.
Aside from teaching, I established my own design company, Cloth2Clay, where I create fashion figures from clay.
I have published and exhibited my sculpture widely. Publications include Design Without Limits, CAD for Fashion Design and a contribution to Nine Heads, Computer Aided Design in Fashion. Juried and invitational shows include: NCECA, Wayne Center for the Arts, Gallery Blu, Harrisburg, Perkins Art Center, Moorestown, New Jersey, Smithsonian Craft Show, Washington, DC; International Invited Fashion Exhibition of Professors, Korean Society for Clothing Industry, Jacqueline Boyd Gallery, Brigantine, New Jersey, New Century Artists Gallery, Chelsea, New York, Gloucester County College, Ross Beitzel Gallery, Beauty Gallery, Ris Gallery and others..
I reside in Collingswood, New Jersey with my husband, Fred, a psychologist, and my beloved dog, Nettie. I have three children, Danielle, a pediatric neuropsychologist ; a son, Jesse, a UX designer, and a daughter in law, Madi, a psychologist
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