Lights, cameras and pose! Lights flashed while student models strutted confidently in student-designed outfits at the Pulse Runway Show on May 9 at San Francisco State University, Annex I.
SFSU apparel design and merchandising majors were the driving force behind the Thursday night event that captured the essence of the students’ repurpose collection.
Designers’ family and friends in attendance at the sold-out show were amazed, with their undivided attention and cameras directed at the cutting-edge outfits as models walked the runway.
“Each year is definitely its own vibe,” said Eduardo Aguire, an apparel design and merchandising lecturer. “There’s a new group of students that come in. So there’s new personalities, new worlds, each world has their own mind. It’s really the collaboration of each group that makes it different.”
Aguire explained how relinquishing complete creative control to students was the goal of the annual fashion exhibition. The name, poster and production were all inspired by the vision of the students.
Another lecturer, Danette Scheib, has been in the Family, Interiors, Nutrition, & Apparel (FINA) department for 10 years and emphasized the importance of building up her students to better prepare them for the future.
“Hopefully in whatever way we can, we’ve given them the competence to go try and do their passion. The confidence to go out and try to approach whatever they want,” Scheib said.
Keana Pukahi, a senior, spent her final semester putting together a cultural collection with a modern twist in honor of her Pacific Islander background.
Pukahi’s team featured PI models and hairdressers, and the night served as a celebration of May being recognized as Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
Working with unique materials such as shells from Hawaii, coconut husks and tapa barkcloth was a challenge for Pukahi. However, it was worth it, as she was thrilled with how everything came together Thursday night.
“I’ve never worked with tapa before,” Pukahi said. “It’s usually like, from birth till death. So I think it’s kind of like a homage — It’s my ending, I’m graduating. It’s pretty cool to work with it because it’s not like regular fabric. It’s different, It’s hard, my poor machine has been going through it.”
Joanna Patterson, a senior, smiled from ear to ear while reminiscing about all the hard work that led up to the show.
“So many 16-hour days just in the lab or at home sewing — it was so much fun!” Patterson said. “What really inspired my collection was just my summers going to the beach, whether it’s a lake river rafting, or hiking, I’ve always been a lover of nature. And I really wanted a collection to be super flowy and loose. And you can’t really get that with trees, but you can get that with the ocean.”
The packed crowd was buzzing after the show was over. Spectators like Giovanni Tito were blown away by the creativity that was put on display and look forward to returning to see what’s in store for the next exhibition.
“I had such an amazing experience,” Tito said. “Just immaculate. Every single designer there —they have such great minds, it was impeccable. It really is very inspiring to see new pieces, seeing other designers’ ideas, and just grabbing a new aspect of a new perspective of what you can do with fashion.”
S b • May 14, 2024 at 12:37 am
Sebastián Vogelmann’s show opening design of the razor wire piece with metal body harness was amazing, innovative, particularly juxtaposed with the soft pink raw undergarment and beautiful model Tanner giving the more traditional feminine and ballet inspired ideal protected by the space and sharpness that the metal outer piece created. Brilliant idea and execution. Beautiful combination of softness and strength of the piece and the modeling of the design.