On the fourth floor of Burk Hall, 18 apparel design students meticulously cut, stitched and sewed together clothing in preparation for the runway show where their pieces will come to life one last time before graduation day.
The anticipated moment will take place at the Runway 2015: Transcend fashion show, a display of the graduating class’s designs for the completion of their bachelor’s degree in apparel design, April 30 at the San Francisco Design Center. Each student will create four to five looks that will be fitted to models and strutted down the runway for family, friends and fellow classmates.
Fashion Network Association president Hannah Peitzman, who will feature her designs at the show, has been involved with the spring production since her freshmen year at SF State.
“Fashion, for me, is just embracing the cultural differences of people and everything you use to express who you are,” Peitzman said.
FNA consists of SF State students who are either in the apparel design and merchandising major or are interested in fashion-related events on campus. The group hosts both spring and fall shows,
which are open to anyone who submits his or her designs to be showcased.
Peitzman said that her designs for the Transcend show were largely influenced by her travels.
“For my final collection, I went to Spain recently and I was really inspired by the architecture there and that was what helped formulate my collection,” Peitzman said.
Peitzan said the best part about being part of a production like the spring show is finding fabrics and coordinating them with her sketches.
“Just finishing the garment is amazing, as you do the final stitch and you cut the thread,” Peitzman said. “It’s a weight lifted off your chest.”
For senior designer Tracey Moreland, this final showcase will be the result of the past two years she has spent preparing and working on her designs, she said.
“I am using all scrap fabrics that are donated from people and companies all over the Bay Area,” Moreland said. “My collection is really based on these scraps so I just came up with doing this bell shape (design). I was really inspired by the 1970s.”
Moreland, who transferred into the ADM program in 2013, has had previous experience in fashion. The designer earned her associate degree at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in San Francisco.
FNA students are in charge of promoting and selling tickets for the event, volunteering at the rehearsals and helping make sure everything runs smoothly at the final show, according to FNA secretary and ADM student Ruth Reyes.
“We’re all really excited,” said Reyes. “And for us it’s kind of getting out of our comfort zone because we never really had to pull something like this together.”
While FNA members welcome guests into the venue, BECA students will prepare the video streaming of the show and the interior design students will present their class projects on the stage as an additional element to the program. The whole production will culminate with the unveiling of the garments, debuted on the runway after months of hard work and preparation on behalf of the ADM students, according to ADM professor Kelly Reddy-Best.
“Each garment tells a story and each collection is like a novel,” Peitzman said. “From start to finish you should be able to understand the story without the designer having to tell you what it’s about.”
