Pink transparent fabric draped across mannequins, blue denim on denim, crystallized borax flowers and a dress resembling a candy-bedazzled cake graced the apparel design lab in the basement of Burk Hall. Apparel design and merchandising students have been working in the space throughout the academic year preparing for Thursday’s runway show.
“Requiem: Echoes of Style, Threads of Time,” is a yearlong culmination of junior and senior students’ designs. The students study and plan the show in the fall, then design the clothes in the spring. According to Ivana Markova, an apparel merchandising adviser, this year’s theme depicts “nostalgia of designs” and “social costumes inspired by different time periods.” Markova described the annual fashion show as “a big wedding.”
“Every year, we do this event in spring, host this captivating fashion show that highlights crafts and collections by designers, gifted students who meticulously develop their ideas and moodboards, and transform their visions into stunning creations that go down the runway,” said Markova.
Mackenzie Simon, a fourth-year student, said the inspiration for her collection, titled “The Forgotten Court,” was to “imagine running down a staircase in a castle.”
“I wanted to make sure it was very romantic and ethereal, but also very headstrong,” Simon said. “I really like the regal style.”
Her looks for the show revolve around a structured yet elegant style, along with statement pieces like corsets, beads and tedious stitching techniques.
“All my designs are detail-based, so on my menswear design I have flat-felled seams – the strongest seams you can make — going vertically down the jacket and the pants and a lot of beading,” she said.
Maddie MacNeill, a fourth-year student, said that every look she designed for the runway has little rhinestones to give it more flair —- a detail inspired from her ice skating experience.
“I used to ice skate and a lot of our dresses and costumes had these little rhinestones, so I thought I could incorporate that into my collection,” MacNeill said. “I want to make designs to be in the Olympics.”
All of MacNeill’s looks are based on moths. Her experimental piece, a work in progress with only a sheer pink top with sleeves resembling a moth’s wing, was a metaphor for how butterflies were seen as pretty, but moths are not.
“My idea for that is very whimsical, all about the pressures that society puts on us to look that way,” MacMeill said.
In addition to the runway collections, some of the senior students are also working on experimental pieces, which will be placed on the sides of the runway. A panel of judges will vote on a runway collection, while people in the audience can vote for the experimental designs.
One of Simon’s experimental projects was a group design, where the students crystallized flowers to create a unique tiered dress.
“We used borax and boiling water solution, let it sit for 12 to 24 hours or so, and the cooling and evaporation process is what forms the crystals,” Simon said. “I’m definitely proud of it. It’s not necessarily my usual style, but I like getting outside what I’m used to.”
Some of the designers’ shared goals were to highlight and accentuate their models’ figures. Kai Liao, a third-year student double majoring in apparel design and merchandising, said he wanted to work with his friend Olivia Maxwell because of her unique style of over-the-knee skirts and love for layers, textures and patterns. His denim-on-denim design incorporates a worn-in, mermaid-style skirt and a cowl neck top.
“I wanted the garments to be very form-fitting on my model’s body,” Liao said. “I want my model to feel very confident when stepping out into the room, into the building, on a runway. I want her to feel empowerment in terms of the way the garments fit, since it makes her stand up very poised.”
With the show happening soon, Liao said the feeling is nerve-wracking and exciting.
“I want to see everybody’s work,” Liao said. “Just by being in this room and seeing what everyone is working on is very inspiring.”
Mickey Olivas, a teaching assistant for the fashion show production class and an apparel design graduate student, led an 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. session of putting the runway installations together.
“They’re working very well together,” Olivas said. “When they have a collaborative passion, it puts a little pep into their step. It’s a hybrid, a collection of personalities and passion.”
Tickets for this year’s fashion show sold out four days before the event. Markova, who hasn’t seen the designs yet, expressed her excitement for the fashion show.
“It’s a celebration of the students’ expression in fashion. They’ve been working incredibly hard designing the outfits and working behind the scenes,” Markova said. “I’m feeling excited to see the designs down the runway. The excitement is contagious.”
“Requiem: Echoes of Style, Threads of Time” will run from 7-8 p.m. on Thursday, May 8 in Annex I.
