![\"Mannequin](\"https:\/\/www.palomar.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/50\/2018\/08\/Bennett-design-768x1024.jpg\")
A piece that Yoli Bennett designed for a fashion class at Palomar was modeled on the runway at FIDM in L.A. and is now on display at Palomar College.<\/p><\/div>\n
Bennett\u2019s career path took its time getting her to Legoland: After 20 years in pharmaceutical sales and decades of freelancing as a costume designer for local theater productions in North County, Bennett landed at Legoland California in 2000\u2014the year after the park opened.<\/p>\n
Today, Bennett\u2019s office is the only operation authorized to build costumes for Legoland. But in her role, she doesn\u2019t just make costumes. Her team can produce all sorts of textiles for the parks.<\/p>\n
In 2003, after sensing dissatisfaction with the uniforms among employees, she wrote a proposal for uniforms that could be worn universally, put together the detailed design documentation known as a \u201ctech pack,\u201d and presented the proposal at corporate headquarters in the Netherlands. Now her design is worn at parks all over the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe gift that Lego has given me is the ability to be creative, to be innovative, and to have them hear my ideas and move forward with some of them,\u201d Bennett said.<\/p>\n
When asked about her sense of accomplishment, she demurred: \u201cIt feels good, but that\u2019s in the past. My philosophy is, do the work, get it done, and move on to the next project, the next challenge. I live that way.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a professional who has seen huge success in her work, Bennett remains one of the Palomar\u2019s most ardent industry supporters, and this spring she opened the MODA Fashion Show by giving a brief personal history. It began when she was a girl who only owned one pair of shoes.<\/p>\n
Bennett has now been married for almost 50 years and has two daughters and several grandchildren.<\/p>\n
When she first got to Palomar, she recalled, \u201cWhat I was seeing was amazing to me\u2014these professors, the dedication they had, what they were teaching these young people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Every year, Bennett welcomes a group of Palomar students into her shop to talk about the process of commercial production\u2014but also to share her philosophy, inspiring them to work hard and keep it professional.<\/p>\n
She tells them, \u201cMake sure whatever you\u2019re doing has a life and will continue to have a life.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"