Photos by Lydia Freud
Every year the senior students at Columbus College Art and Design in the fashion design program spend hours brainstorming, sewing or dying fabrics in hopes of showcasing their senior thesis.
The 2019 CCAD Fashion Show is set for Friday, May 10 at 7 p.m., and the designers are ready to go – merely adding final touches.
But this year welcomes a new wave. Many of the student designers are thinking about sustainability, customer needs and wants, gender-fluid garments and how to express feminism through ornate pieces.
Learn about some of the students, how their collections came to fruition and get an inside scoop on what their models will present on the runway.
Kristen Wyant
Featured model: Jiaqi (Jackie) Yu
Kristen Wyant knew what her collection would include since day one – literally. During her freshmen orientation, Wyant learned the fashion program senior thesis is completely original. Immediately, the idea of representing powerful females throughout the world came to mind.
“It’s been in my brain and then I illustrated/vomited it onto paper my junior year because I was sick of it being in there,” Wyant laughs.
The only featured student to seriously conquer costume design, Wyant will showcase four garments each representing Japan, England, Greece or Egypt.
Wyant gave a sneak peek of her Japanese-inspired garment: She hand-made the blue and red square-printed fabric seen on the train using the Japanese shibori dyeing technique, the flowers represent all seasons – cherry blossoms for spring, chrysanthemum for autumn – and the headdress was hand-made and features a flower-like dangling red piece.
The England-inspired garment is described as modern and sexy, and features a long velvet cape inspired by Queen Elizabeth’s coronation outfit. The Grecian piece includes a gold, sculpted breastplate made from plastic. And the Egyptian garment, inspired by Elizabeth Taylor’s Cleopatra role, features a hand-sculpted scarab necklace and a crown with hanging beads.
Thuy Nguyen
Featured model: Jiahao Peng
Growing up in Vietnam, Thuy Nguyen enjoyed the lush vegetation and flowing rivers near her Grandmother’s home. She eventually moved into the city though and realized the effects of pollution and how it was slowly spreading into the countryside.
“What I definitely know is that the environment is changing where I lived, and it’s really obvious,” she says. “I want to make a collection where I remind people what we’re doing and educate people.”
Nguyen’s project is all about sustainability. The student designer gave a sneak peek of her clear cropped vest that is insulated and made with old plastic packaging and little airbags. The collection allows the viewer and wearer to see not only how you can reuse products for fashion but the work required to create garments – the pants have exposed stitching and highlights the craftsmanship.
“I think it’s an experiment of unconventional material to see if I can really make something out of it,” she says.
Nguyen also created parachute-like pants completely made of grocery bags that she found scattered about. Exposed stitching runs through the pants, giving it an organic feel.
Alex Domoracki
Featured model: David Woods
The focus of Alex Domoracki’s collection is personal. While involved in the CCAD Queer Alliance, the group talked about their frustrations with gender-neutral clothing and how it can feel masculine or dull. So, Domoracki took action.
“For my collection, I wanted to create something fun and unique for a queer customer that wants to wear gender-neutral fashion.”
Giving a sneak peek of one outfit, Domoracki created high-waisted shorts using a fabric pattern she made by hand – painting a watercolor design, scanning it and then printing it onto the light-weight fabric. The knit sweater isn’t just your typical pullover – Domoracki hand knitted the sleeves and the buttons on the shoulders are fully functional. And David Woods love wearing the original design.
“(I like) being able to walk out and show everyone just how good gender-neutral fashion can be, and not having to conform to the basic masculine ideas fashion,” Woods says.
Other pieces in the collection include a knitted full-length cardigan, a high-low skirt made from denim and a pair of jeans featuring flower patching growing out of the pockets.
Alanta Slone
Featured model: ‘Drea Kirby
It all started with flowers for Alanta Slone. After her grandmother passes away, Slone was helping her grandfather clean up the wilting flowers in his house when she realized a beautiful color scheme – muted mauves, blushes and earthy tones.
The collection is not flower-themed though, it’s actually pretty edgy. Using the wilting flower color scheme, Slone created garments inspired by bedroom fashion or lingerie.
The sneak peek garment is an asymmetrical dress inspired by a nightshirt. The piece features hook-and-eye closures – like you may see on a bra – running the length of the dress, along with a mauve corset with exposed wire – a current trend in lingerie – that synchs in the dress.
Possibly her most stand-out piece won’t be relieved until the fashion show though – but we have the scoop! Slone will showcase corset pants: incredibly high-waisted flare pants, borderline jumpsuit, that shapes under the bust and features hook-and-eyes along with lacing near the calf.
Slone is excited by nervous. When asked what she’s nervous about, her response is lighthearted.
“Probably for when I have to walk out with the models,” Slone laughs.
Wes Mills
Featured model: Conor Heisler
From culinary school to fashion school, the story of Wes Mills is interesting and inspiring. His knowledge of sewing spans 15 years, but he didn’t realize he thoroughly enjoyed the craftsmanship until recently – after nearly completing a garment in one night and his mother asking, “Why aren’t you doing this full-time?”
For his thesis, Mills is featuring a line of masculine/gender-fluid clothing that incorporates his passion for sea turtle activism and his interest in street fashion. The sneak peek garment is a modern, mesh vest with rubberized silicone pinstripes. The mesh represents fishing nets or plastic that can harm marine life and the stripes bring attention to the pollutants in the ocean.
“It calls attention to the fact that a lot of fashion industry materials do end up in the ocean,” says Mills. “When you look at (the vest) that’s not going to be an idea that pops in your head immediately, but (marine life activism) really means a lot to me.”
Guest can look forward to a sweatshirt that features his three-dimensional fashion brand logo – called Shll Shtk (propounded shell shocked) his brand logo is an intricate sea turtle.
“I’m really excited for my parents to see (my collection),” says Mills. “They did a lot to help me get here and they were a very big inspiration.”
Melissa Marchi
Featured model: Olivia Saunders
www.melissamarchi.myportfolio.com
While working in New York City during a summer semester, Melissa Marchi discovered her favorite after-work drink – the Baby Doll watermelon vodka cocktail. Coral in color, the drink and the city inspired Melissa to create a resort/summer collection that any city-lover can wear from work to a night on the town.
Her sneak peek outfit features an off-the-shoulder peach-colored top and high-waisted linen pants with a row of buttons. The outfit isn’t just stylish, it’s also eco-friendly. Marchi used all bio-degradable fabrics and even the buttons, sourced from Ecuador, completely break down.
“What happens to that garment when you’re done with it is something I think about a lot,” Marchi says.
Other pieces in her collection include linen overalls with an organza shirt underneath and a flowy dress in the same vibrant coral color.
As for Olivia Saunders, she loves the outfit and is excited to model for Marchi since their friendship goes back to freshmen year. March actually inspired Saunders their first year to audition for a model role and has been walking in the fashion show ever since – so she’s a pro.
We were freshmen roommates, so it’s a little more sentimental having her walk,” Marchi says with a smile.
Click here to learn more about the 2019 CCAD Fashion Show
Lydia Freudenberg is the brand loyalty specialist. Feedback welcome at lfreudenberg@cityscenemediagroup.com.
