Episode 3: Trae and Mykenzy
Glamour Episode 2: Taylee and Sam
Material Musings Episode 1: Naji and Rozlyn
Cultural Connections |
FASHION DESIGN 2017/2018
Inspiration and motif came from a variety of places for our designers. Spectators who came to see the fashion show at the DiFiore Center for the Arts were reminded constantly of this. “My inspiration was this artist, her name is Heather Day, and she does a lot of splattered paintings,” designer Taylee Batt described. Taylee used a custom made splattered textile as the motif for her line this semester. Other designers felt inspired to use unconventional materials. Samantha Haddock, for example, felt compelled to use old billboards. “I saw all these billboards, and they always had stupid stuff on them, and I just felt like that was such a waste of materials. So I was like, ‘What if I make fashion out of them and they won’t be wasted?’” Jaden Stilson and TaiLey Nielson wanted to create “...something different, but also elegant at the same time.” Jaden and TaiLey used boning to create an intriguing silhouette that had not been seen before. Some designers based their lines off more organic subjects, like Mady McCary, who took inspiration from the structure of flowers, or Mea Jones and Savannah North, who were influenced by the springtime sports season. A few designers designed their lines with an important message to tell. Jaeda Sagendorf used her line as a way to show the beauty of African American women as models and breaking the stereotypes that are put onto African American women in the industry. “My overall theme was showcasing black women in a different way than just showing them for diversity purposes or as plus size models which is what you usually see mainly in the industry.” If you are familiar with KC Carter’s paintings, you know that they are a bold punch of color incorporated with cultural topics, and that’s exactly her take on her line from this semester. When asked to describe her line, she said she took from “fashion culture and femininity used through text.” Naji Runs Through centered his line around Indigenous women. “I found through years and years of drawing that if I’m not doing Native, then I’m not happy.” Naji used styles and concepts that come from Native American culture, but with his own twist. Samantha Rowley found her inspiration from emotions and feelings, making clothes with shapes based off those emotions. Designers used their own techniques to help construct and clarify their designs. Rozlyn Melluish had a unique way of developing her designs and visualizing them. “First, I made a mood board, and then I made a bunch of sketches.” Mykenzy Ford took a more hands-on approach to structuring her designs. “I got into pattern making...so I made patterns out of tissue paper, and I did that by using a dress form.” |