Major: Fashion Design
Minor: Fashion Merchandising
Hometown: San Anselmo, California
 

Gabby Thawley is a Fashion Design major with a minor in Fashion Merchandising at Dominican University of Illinois and a student-athlete on the women’s soccer team. She has learning differences, including dyslexia and auditory processing challenges, which shape how she learns and creates. 

Fashion allows Gabby to learn in a hands-on and visual way instead of only through textbooks. She has a strong passion for bridal design and fashion illustration, using sketching, draping, and sewing to tell emotional stories through clothing. 

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Her journey was deeply shaped by studying at the Paris American Academy, where she learned about couture, fashion history, and global design, and gained confidence in her creative voice. 

Gabby hopes to show young people with learning differences, like herself, that they can succeed in higher education and grow into meaningful roles in society. She believes fashion is not just clothing, but a voice, a story, and a way to empower others