Strike a pose/Strike a pose/Vogue, vogue, vogue
As Madonna’s 1990 classic “Vogue” blares in the background streams of models strut down the runway, hearing only the music and the clanking sound of their stilettos. Cameras flashing as swarms of people stand on either side of them. This show has many elements of a professional high-fashion show, except for one major difference — it’s completely run by students.
For the past few years students from the College of Textiles and College of Art and Design have held an annual fashion show, Art to Wear. Students involved in the show are responsible for everything from lighting and photography to making the clothes and modeling them. However, this is not a traditional high-fashion runway show.
Designers are given complete independence in presenting their clothes. For last year’s show, one designer constructed an upscale funeral, while another had Prince Charming showing off the models and the designer’s clothes. Another designer made a clothing line of unwoven fabrics.
“You get more unique crazy responses because [the designers] don’t feel limited, and the variety of the show makes it unique,” said Liz Morrison, a senior in textile technology and art and design and co-director of the show. “We like to bring in that creative spirit.”
Lexa Dennis, a senior in textile and apparel management and director of the show, said the organizers of the event try to keep the designers’s work a secret before presenting it on the runway, and because the designers are free to use their own artistic creativity, the fashion show has no theme.
“It’s completely funky and artistic,” Dennis said. “You don’t know what you’re going to expect, but you know you’re going to have fun.”
Morgan Curtis, a sophomore in biological sciences, attended the show last year because her roommate was a model in the show.
“I really enjoyed it, and I plan to go again this year,” she said. “I was really impressed that we have students here on campus who can do that and be that creative.”
Also, due to the popularity of the program, potential designers had to try out and submit two garments to be juried by three judges. The jurors, who were nonstudents unaffiliated with the show, saw only the garments on the models. They never met the designers.
Last year’s show attracted nearly 800 people and about 800 – 1,000 people are expected this year. As the popularity of the show has increased each year, space has come at a premium. This year, the show will move from Kamphoefner Hall to the Court of North Carolina to accommodate its growing audience.
Morrison said while Kamphoefner Hall was a good location, it didn’t have a runway. Instead, models had to go down steps in their three-inch heels. She couldn’t help but laugh when she said some models were afraid of falling.
During her three-year tenure with the show, she has seen it evolve. She credits sponsors and publicity it got last year in the News and Observer.
“The more sophisticated and more collaboration we have with outside companies, the more and more people have noticed it,” she said.
Over the past few years, the students have gotten funding from the deans of the College of Design and College of Textiles and some of the boutiques at Cameron Village. The Aveda Institute has offered to do the models’ hair and makeup free of charge. Students also raise money by selling Art to Wear T-shirts. But no matter where the funding comes, Jessica Straw, a junior in industrial design, said “everyone looks forward” to the show, “at least in the design school.”
“Last year, I modeled for Marie Cordella and wore a green sleeveless dress which had the Empire State Building on the fabric,” Straw, a model in the 2006 show, said. “It’s a big event.”
With such a “big” event, the students involved put in months of preparation and countless hours of labor, whether helping with the models behind stage, shooting the video, directing the show or modeling the clothes.
“For myself, I start thinking about next year’s show right after this year’s show is over,” Morrison said.