Many of you have probably seen photos of Paris Hilton sometime last July, pictured in a gorgeous black and white gown. Gorgeous, classy, and understated are not things Paris typically goes for in a dress, but they suit her well.

Imagine my surprise when I found out the designer was only a 19-year-old college student like myself! Meet Jonathan Bash, the design genius who made Paris Hilton go from trashy to classy.

Jonathan is a 19-year-old fashion design student in Los Angeles who literally got discovered by Paris Hilton at a gas station and ended up designing dresses for her. Just a few months later, he’s amassed a long list of celebrity clientèle and is on the road to making his dreams happen, all while still in college. His designs are exquisite, and he is certainly an up-and-coming talent in the fashion industry who will go far in the business. Read on for more about this rising star!

Tell me a little about yourself.

I’m 19 years old, and was born and raised in LA and also went to high school in Las Vegas. I always knew I wanted to be a designer; I used to watch my parents’ wedding video all the time and think about how glamorous my mom looked, and I wanted to make other women as beautiful and glamorous as she was.

As a kid, I would always draw dresses with crayons all the time; since I was seven, I have collected thousands of drawings in a portfolio. I took a lot of those designs that I made as a kid and am starting to make them now. I study at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in LA, which is also where Lauren Conrad of "The Hills" studies. I always knew I had the passion and ambition to do it, and that was the most important thing, even more so than school. School hasn’t really helped me at all. What’s helped me is that I just go up to celebrities and they give me their numbers!

The story is that you go “discovered” by Paris Hilton at a gas station. How did that work?

I met her at a gas station, asked if I could pump her gas. Years ago, ever since I knew who Paris was, I had always wanted to design for her. I was sooo infatuated by her.

So I was pumping gas for her, this was in February, and she saw my sketches and loved it, and then we talked for a couple weeks and lost touch, and then she went to jail. But I wrote her a letter in jail, and after she got out she saw me at a tanning place one day and said the letter made her cry.

Two weeks later I went to her house and brought my portfolio. Her aunt Kyle told Paris I could be the next Marc Jacobs! Then Paris called and was like, can you get me a dress for tomorrow night? So it was kind of last minute and crazy but I called my dressmaker and he said he could do it in a day, so I went to her studio the next day where she’s filming this movie, I got there at 9 AM for a fitting, everything was perfect, so then I went to Paris’s for five hours and helped her decide on hair, makeup jewelry.

She had a People magazine interview the next day and mentioned me in it, which was cool but I didn’t like how they called me a “charity case” in the article because I thought it was kind of degrading. But at the same time, exposure is exposure and being mentioned in People has really helped me a lot.

What are you working on now?

I’m designing for Ivanka Trump -- I love her because she’s very classy, very sophisticated, very elegant, pretty much the exact opposite of Paris! When she was in town she invited me to "The Apprentice" and we went to a club afterwards. I showed her 50 dresses and she only picked one; she’s very sophisticated and choosy.

I have a lot of respect for her because she’s this great businesswoman but also a beautiful socialite. I actually met her on my birthday -- I was at a restaurant and she was there, and I called her to my table to talk to her and she literally gave me her number on the spot.

How does it feel to be designing for celebrities all of a sudden at just 19?

Well I always knew I would do it, I always had the ambition. I see people in high school who don’t know what they want to do, which has to be frustrating. I’ve been so lucky to know exactly what I wanted to do all along: design for celebrities. To have the first celebrity that wears your things be Paris Hilton--that’s huge and I’m so thankful, but at the same time it’s a relief because I know I’m doing okay.

I’m thankful, confident, appreciative, and also relieved that I’m actually reaching my goals. It’s a big relief because it kind of means maybe I do have what it takes to be the designer I want to be. A lot of people don’t make their goals later in life, I feel extremely fortunate to reach one of my goals already.

What’s the toughest thing about working in the fashion industry?

Getting celebrities’ time! It is very very very exhausting. Paris is busy with five billion other things, so her life is very scheduled, you know? It’s so hard to get her to sit down for 10 minutes to pick what she wants. It’s good that I have developed a friendship with her or it would be a lot harder.

I work with a lot of assistants--I became best friends with Ivanka's assistant Darcy. Working with celebrities themselves is exhausting because their schedules are just so packed. The actual designing, drawing, and getting the dress made is the easy part. Plus they don’t pay. Celebrities want loans, so at this point I’m not getting paid, I’m just doing all this for exposure and to build a reputation in the industry.

Ivanka actually offered to pay me but I don’t know if I want her to; I’m doing it for me. I understand because if I were a celebrity I would really want Versace or Dior, not an unknown nineteen-year-old; it means so much that they give me a chance.

What kinds of clothing do you like designing the most? What is your style?

I like high-end couture, I love gowns, love red carpet stuff, you can do anything you want. The sky’s the limit--I love long trains, Swarovski beads, high-end couture stuff. Eventually I would love to do a casual line too. But I love all things extravagant.

How is your life any different now than from before you met Paris?

Well I’m a lot more busy and have more exposure. Every day I’m on the phone or in meetings or doing interviews or talking to assistants. My life is more professional, I’m a lot more confident about myself and with everything.

My family, too, is so proud of me now--no one ever thought I could do it and actually make it designing for celebrities. Honestly, all these years they thought I was talking out of my ass. My grandma always questioned it, she never believed it, but then she saw this and it really showed I was confident and got respect for my work. I feel like more of a professional designer with clients, articles, and the E! News things coming up.

Who are some of your favorite designers?

Versace has been my number one favorite designer all my life. When Donatella took over I wasn’t sure whether I would like the new Versace—

Wait. When Donatella took over Versace? That was ten years ago--we were nine years old!

Yeah, I was into fashion when I was three, that’s how long I’ve been paying attention to the industry! I also love Badgley Mischka, Valentino, and Oscar de la Renta. I’m not a big Zac Posen fan; I think he is currently one of the youngest people in fashion and the youngest to ever show a collection in New York Fashion Week.

What are your goals for the future?

I’m not into Zac Posen’s style, but I respect him a lot for being the youngest person ever in Fashion Week. I would like to break his record myself and become the youngest person in Fashion Week!

I also want to dress Angelina Jolie and Nicole Kidman someday--they are both incredible style icons. I definitely would love to be on Oprah. Once you get on Oprah, you know you’ve made it! Hopefully someday I can also open up my own store.

And finally, what do you want college students to know about achieving their dreams and working in fashion or design?

Well first of all, I’ve been in school all summer, and doing so much design work has really interfered with school. I feel like I could do more without it but I need the degree, and I need to learn, but I learn a lot from the experience I’m getting outside of school. I believe everyone should go to school, but outside experience is also very very important.

Everyone should have an internship or something. If you’re in fashion, get an internship; it leads to so many opportunities and you meet so many people--it’s all about networking and who you know. School teaches you the basics, but it’s all up to you to get that outside exposure. That’s something I every strongly believe in--every single fashion student has to get an internship somewhere.