Photos by Matt Hellman | Lariat Photographer
By Leigh Ann Henry
Reporter
Uproar Records will release its third annual compilation album on April 27, but this year the record label is adding a twist by incorporating a sustainable fashion show and calling the event Project Greenway.
“This is first and foremost a concert,” said Houston senior Laura Williams when describing the breakdown of events at the show.
Williams serves as Uproar Records vice president with Rockdale junior Lincoln Faulkner.
Uproar Records is a student-run record label that features local Baylor artists.
Project Greenway will start at 6:30 p.m. in the Barfield Drawing Room of the Bill Daniel Student Center and will open with sets from three artists. The fashion show, which also includes live music, will follow.
Eight student teams, made up of three to four people each, will participate in the fashion show. The teams were instructed to design outfits using recycled materials as well as reused and repurporsed materials.
“They’re going to be judged on innovation/resourcefulness, execution, wearability and use of recycled materials versus new materials,” Faulkner said.
Innovation and resourcefulness is the overall creativity of the design, execution is how well the designers matched their original sketch in the final product and wearability is the overall look and poise of the model as well as the outfit’s durability on the runway, Faulkner said.
The designers get more points by incorporating reused versus new products; for instance, buying something plastic compared to using plastic found in someone’s house.
The judges will deliberate during a final set from another artist and announce the results.
The release of a compilation Uproar CD is an annual event, but this is the first year sustainability has been incorporated into the event.
“This is the first time Baylor has seen something like this. It’s definitely the biggest thing Uproar has ever done and it’s been a huge collaborative effort that I hope will continue to add more people as years go by, like businesses getting involved with sponsorship and more organizations on campus getting involved,” Faulkner said. “We hope this grows to be as big as any event at Baylor and becomes one of Baylor’s favorite events every year.”
Faulkner said he got the idea for the event from another university.
“I first got this idea from a student newspaper at Iowa State that did a fashion show made out of newspapers and I kind of took that and developed it, made it into more generally sustainable items,” Faulkner said.
Williams and Faulkner said some of the items seen in the designs include newspapers, magazines, can tabs, bottle caps, paper mache, feathers, umbrellas, tissue paper and much more.
“Sustainability was the first group we thought of in putting on a recycling fashion show. … We knew that they’d be all for something that actively demonstrates what they do in a cool and unique way,” Williams said.
Smith Getterman, sustainability coordinator at Baylor, said Williams and Faulkner approached him soon after the idea hatched last fall and he’s been helping to highlight all recyclable materials around campus.
“I tried to help mentor and guide them, help streamline their thought process. They had great ideas and were really great to work with,” Getterman said.
This is the first time Uproar Records and the sustainability department have had the opportunity to work this closely together.
“Sustainability has been really great. It wouldn’t even have been possible for us to do this without their support and advising us on certain things,” Faulkner said.
The event also had help from the family consumer sciences department, which provided Dr. Rochelle Brunson, Dr. Jaynie Fader and Dr. Mary Simpson, who serve as full-time lecturers in the department, to help host the fashion show and also provide three student mentors.
“We have no idea how to do a fashion show because we’re marketing students and they really helped us pull this off,” Faulkner said.
Faulkner and Williams said the student mentors were crucial in the event because it allowed more students to participate by helping them learn to size, measure and design.
Not all of the teams participating are from fashion-related majors.
Individuals, as well as various organizations on campus, are represented in the eight participating teams.
Maroa, Ill., senior Casey Barillas is working with a group representing the Collegiate Entrepreneurs Association.
“It has piqued my interest in fashion. I’ve never had a chance to design or anything. Overall, it’s been a really good time to build something from scratch and do it in a really innovative way,” Barillas said.
Barillas said the design and construction of her group’s outfit has taken about seven hours.
Williams and Faulkner said Tyler James, owner and head stylist at Salon Evidence in Waco, has played a big role in putting the show together.
His team will provide makeup for each of the models in the show.
Last week, the teams met with James individually and showed them their designs.
James will also serve as one of the judges for the fashion showcase.
The concert will open with Emory sophomore Brin Beaver followed by Plano freshman Amy Boykin then David Dulcie and the RagTag Army. K.J. Doug Grate will provide live music during the fashion showcase and Zoo Studio will play the final set while the judges deliberate. Each set will last about 20 minutes.
First place in the fashion showcase will receive $500. Teams ranked first through third will receive a photo shoot as well a free copy of the album.
There will be prizes for the audience as well.
A booth called “Twitter Booth” will be set up in which students are instructed to take fun and creative pictures in front of the Uproar Records banner, where certain items such as newspapers and hats will be provided.
Students are asked to tweet their picture with the hashtag Project Greenway and between each set Uproar students will browse the pictures and announce their favorite. Students in the winning photo will also receive a free compilation album.
“I’m excited to see the talent and creativity of our students from every realm of the student body,” Getterman said.
Thousands of invitations to the event in the form of paper flowers will be handed out in the Bill Daniel Student Center on April 26 and old copies of the Lariat will be used as decorations at Project Greenway.
General admission to Project Greenway will be $5 and admission with the inclusion of a compilation album will cost $7.
