Stephanie Blanks Stevenson, Cosmetics, Fragrance, and Toiletries ’83 and Brian Stevenson, Advertising and Communications
Stephanie: “It was 1981. I was standing in line for registration for three hours talking to the guy in front of me, Brian Stevenson, an Advertising and Communications major. We learned everything about each other, including the fact that I was engaged. When it was his turn, he stepped out of line and said he already had his registration. Stunned, I learned that he had gotten in line just to meet me.
“This October will be our 34th wedding anniversary. We have two children, and a beautiful grand-daughter, and we owe it all to meeting at FIT! I’m a human resources professional, and Brian works in publicity for Sony Music, for Fathead sports marketing, and now as a part of the Motown Museum expansion.”
Nick Parisse, Photography ’09, and Lexi Townsend Parisse, Fashion Design ’09
Nick: “We had a class together, Stress Management, but we never spoke to each other. A few weeks into our freshman year, we found ourselves at a mutual friend’s dorm room one evening and we’ve been together every day since.”
In addition to shooting for Hue, Nick is director of photography at Dawning, a photojournalism company that creates multimedia stories about humanitarian issues. Lexi teaches fashion design at the High School of Fashion Industries. In January, they welcomed their first child, Marius Gray Parisse.
Joe Carrotta, Photography ’17, and Victoria Pizzo, Photography ’19 met shooting an FIT fashion show in 2016. Both work as freelance photographers. (Carrotta shot “A Friendship, Years in the Making.”)
John Rivoli met Lucy Fierro outside the cafeteria on his first day at FIT—August 28, 1989. “She was wearing polka-dot pants,” he recalls. In 2019, they celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. They also work together. Rivoli Design Group Inc. is a New York design agency specializing in art for film and TV studios and their licensees. When computers were still new, Rivoli developed a way to create digital art that looks hand-drawn and that can be reproduced at any size, even for billboards and theme parks. They won over numerous studios: Warner Bros., Dreamworks, Universal, Sony, MGM, and Nickelodeon.
Fierro, Marketing: Fashion and Related Industries ’92, writes the copy, markets the company, and pitches new business. Rivoli, Illustration ’91, creates the art. He also did a Scooby Doo stamp for the U.S. Postal Service, and he collaborates with Sylvester Stallone on Rocky- and Creed-themed fine art prints. Another of their specialties is style guides that translate a film’s character art for licensees that create product, anything from board games to pajamas. The guides include directions for character poses, colors, and packaging design. Rivoli says they do style guides for 90 percent of films that spawn merchandise. “When we walk into a Target, we know that art from our studio is there,” Fierro says. “It remains a real thrill.”
Camille Agnese Block, Fashion Design ’68, and Marc Block, Photography ’68
They met on the steps of the Feldman Center and were in a Life Magazine article on knickers in 1970, just after they got married. They celebrated 50 years in January.
Angela Finochio, Accessories Design ’09, and Jared Long, Illustration ’09, Communication Design ’07
Angela: “We met in 2004 at a house party on Long Island. My best friend and her brother threw the party and Jared was friends with her brother. We met outside on their front stoop and instantly bonded over our love of art and music. I was already a freshman at FIT and Jared was applying for 2005, and was taking a Precollege class. We discovered we lived near each other, and he offered me a ride home. We remained close for several years until we started to date in 2007. We’ve been married for seven years, with a two-year-old daughter and a freelance design business, War of the Masses.”