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Academy of Couture Art in West Hollywood Sonia Ete, Thierry Ete Intentional Misrepresentation West Hollywood, California
A friend of mine told me an interesting story about her experience with an LA school that goes by the name of the Academy of Couture Art (ACA) in West Hollywood. The school is run by Sonia and Thierry t, assisted by a number of helpers in their efforts to con ordinary people.
Now, let me start from the beginning. It remains unclear as to what the story of this couple is, but Sonia t has claimed she is a great connoisseur of French fashion design, including Haute Couture, and holds an MFA degree from l'Ecole Suprieure des Arts et techniques de la Mode (ESMOD), France. According to her, not only did she develop a new teaching method previously unknown in the USA, but new body measurement and pattern design techniques as well. The truth is that Sonia only spent 7-9 months at ESMOD and, obviously, has never been awarded an MFA degree. Awhile back she graduated from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandizing (FIDM) with an A.A.A. degree, which she carefully concealed until the trial started (well get to that later). The new pattern design method had in fact been lifted from ESMOD and Helen Joseph-Armstrongs textbooks, but those textbooks are not offered to the students at ACA. It seems that Sonia would be unhappy should someone else get their hands on the same book she has. The unique US teaching method, according to Sonia and Thierry, is separating Fashion Design from Pattern Design and then splitting each program into an enormous number of courses (over 100), which, of course, means more and more money for tuition.
Sonya's biography, just like ACAs catalogs for previous years , is replete with beautiful, well-constructed phrases and the names of celebrities and well-known personalities of our time, both French and American ( Jennifer Lopez, Sylvester Stallone, Tony Danza, and Michele Lee, etc.)
Who will, for example, start checking the qualifications of the faculty or verifying the claims of the owners personal connections, when the World Wide Web abounds with ads for this school describing its unique nature? When somebody smiles at you nicely and promises a warm welcome in an elite school, international recognition in the near future, and employment in the best companies after graduation, you want to believe. Especially when your childs bright future can be vividly described to you by Thierry t, a psychotherapist by education who is ready to cure EVERYBODY. He will also calculate your tuition fees, using a formula of his own invention which he keeps to himself, and you will be surprised how quickly money disappears from your pocket while you continue to owe more and more. And if you still have any questions, ask Michelle Myers who, since she has been employed by the school, has learned how to snow all those who call or come to ACA.
Dont ask Sonya though she will most likely yell at you or break into tears. She doesnt like questions and prefers compliments and admiring stares. Years with a psychotherapist have taken their toll.
What an amazing school!
Located in the prestigious Pacific Design Center building, this school offers small classes to its students, who from the very first day are systematically indoctrinated to believe they have been chosen. Very nice! But remember : If youre unwrapping a nice wrapper and see something brown, it does not necessarily mean its chocolate.
Sonia has a gift for recognizing talent with money in theirs pocket and Thierry is a great psychologist who, through periodic private conversations with students, helps them develop the correct (i.e. convenient for Sonia and Thierry) opinion about everybody and everything.
Now back to reality. A court in Los Angeles, CA has recently ruled on a complaint filed by a former ACA student who raised questions about whether the school is misrepresenting itself. Sonia and Thierry were found guilty of knowingly and systematically telling tales. Interestingly enough, during the deposition Sonia denied having any direct contacts with celebrities, but later, in court, probably knowing that nobody would challenge her, said she could always call those people.
So, dear celebrities, expect a phone call!
Thierry t has failed to explain why students who enrolled at the same time in the same program were paying different tuition fees and studying absolutely different courses. His magic formula for calculating tuitions and figuring out how much you will still owe after you have actually paid for everything remains a mystery. Dont even think about asking him questions youre not going to get any straight answers. What you will get is anti-depression treatment whether you need it or not. On the other hand, it may completely change your view of the world and you can save some money on rose-colored glasses.
Watch those guys!!!!
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Academy of Couture Art
West Hollywood,California,
United States of America
Institutional Response
#3REBUTTAL Owner of company
Mon, December 13, 2010
Academy of Couture Art (ACA) knows this student. She first enrolled in two certificate programs (one year programs) to learn Fashion Design and Pattern Design and studied successfully during her first quarter at ACA. The second quarter, she mentioned that she was very happy, was learning a lot, and had decided to change programs for two Bachelor degree programs (four year programs). Towards the end of that quarter she suddenly flipped her attitude from kindness to open aggressiveness, expressing her discontentment to everyone, denigrating the school and its teachings with ACA student body and instructors, disrupting classes, assailing the administration, attending erratically, and not performing academically, with a behavior that persisted through two warnings to a suspension. As specified in her enrollment agreement, she could have withdrawn from the programs at any time with a prorate refund if she considered the school not fitting her expectation. Instead, she finished her quarter owing ACA $12,262.46 of courses taken but not paid, and sued the school, looking avidly for a monetary settlement.
After a year of non-agreement in several settlement attempts that she refused, the case went to court and has been judged. The jury decided in the favor of the plaintiff under the consideration that the enrollment agreement (provided by the way by the California Department of Consumer Affairs that regulates the school) was not clear enough in disclosing which courses she had to take, despite the fact that the enrollment agreement specified that she had been given a catalog including a description of the course of educational service before signing the agreement. The jury awarded her a refund of the money paid for her second quarter in the amount of $6,633.70. Despite the unfairness and the frivolous character of the lawsuit, Academy of Couture Art accepted the jury decision and did not appeal the case that already damaged so much, and moved on with its mission.
Academy of Couture Art is an institution of higher learning leading to careers in the fashion industry where success depends on hard work and a constructive serving attitude to the community. It is even truer for a college, like Academy of Couture Art, that prepares specialized graduates. Greed and laziness are not advised for those who want to take this journey. Academy of Couture Art operations have been reviewed and is under supervision of the State of California Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education , the national accrediting body The Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the California State Approving Agency for Veteran Affairs. None of these agencies have received a complaint for the way Academy of Couture Art conducts its operations even with students having access at anytime to these agency contacts. Through the succession of approval processes, Academy of Couture Art developed higher standards of operation necessary to maintain its status with these agencies and is committed to serving its population of students by following these higher standards to ensure quality education that leads to rewarding and successful careers in the fashion industry.
hightechwear4usa
Venice,California,
United States of America
ACA, The Harvard of Fashion Design Schools
#3UPDATE Employee
Sat, September 18, 2010
First of all, if The Academy of Couture Art was so off the mark of their goal to be known as the Harvard of Fashion Design Schools, more Students would be complaining about it.
The Student writing the Complaint about ACA did not want to do the work to be there. That person came to the school for an excellent education. That is what the school sells, purely and simply.
She would have gotten one, if she would have done the Assignments in class and Homework. I know the person writing the complaint. She complained for 8 weeks of an 11 week class and didnt show up for the rest of them.
Some students want a Harvard level Degree just for paying for it. They simply dont do the work and get by. At Academy of Couture Art, you cant do that.
Art is in the making of it. If there is more talking than making; the work of Artistic embellishments, customized pattern making to fit an individual precisely, drawing new Styles and creating new Prints barely gets completed. In an Academy of Art; if the work is not done, the learning process deplets itself.
For the readers reading about the rip off, please read again and feel the person writing it. Watch out for students looking for a Degree and complaining all the way through the course rather than doing their studies.