By Molly Atchison | Print Managing Editor
The colors and textures of the Baylor Spring Fashion Show commanded center stage in Barfield Drawing Room Saturday night. Freshman- through senior-aged students created clothing designs and collaborated with one another to bring the showcase to life. The runway show highlighted of 11 senior collections, all made from scratch and designed with specific customers in mind.
“The goal of the Baylor Fashion Show is to truly highlight the work and dedication of our apparel students,” said Harper senior Angie Pascarella, co-chair for the fashion show. “The seniors have spent hours on end in the design studio over the past four years, and this event is a time for them to share their creative work with their friends and family.”
The show began with creations from the freshmen classes, which focused on beginner sewing and design skills and featured youth wear modeled by children ranging from ages five to 10. The show proceeded to sophomore level work, which featured design and detail application. The junior class created fall and winter wear and focused on working with difficult fabrics such as leather and wool. Finally, the seniors showed off their own spring lines. Styles ranged from formalwear to bridal to ready-to-wear casual designs. The senior showcase was presented to a panel of industry professionals prior to the show and was evaluated using specific criteria.
Before the models walked the runway, each senior designer explained the goal of the collection, naming the famous fashion designer who inspired their creations. A soundtrack specific to each line accompanied the models and tailored to evoke the essence of the collection as a whole. From flowing, see-through fabrics to thick, structured designs, each outfit told its own story.
“The fashion show gives our students the opportunity to show the community who they are as designers,” Andie Day, professor of apparel design said. “The work of our students has a broad range from edgy to avant-garde to classic. Seeing these young designers creating their dream collection is inspiring for all in attendance.”
At the end of the night, the designers were invited on stage to be presented awards, which encompassed four categories: most marketable in ready-to-wear, most marketable in formal wear, most unique interpretation of trends and strongest execution of collection inspiration. The award for most marketable in ready-to-wear went to Cibolo senior Amber Six, with her collection “Ethreal Edge,” which combined structured patterns with lightweight, hand-dyed fabrics. Each of her clothing items was a mauve color, with light purples woven throughout. The award for most marketable in formal wear went to Flower Mound senior Danielle Huseman for her collection, “Midnight Gold.” Her design mixed deep blue fabrics with brilliant metallic gold splashes. The award for most unique interpretation of trends went to Houston senior Claire Elisabeth Allen for her trendy, pastel collection titled “Efflorescence.” Finally, the award for strongest execution of collection inspiration want to Comanche senior Ling Ni for her postmodern, genderless collection “X.”
Each of the winners, along with the other seven artists featured on the runway, were recognized for their achievements and received feedback from industry professionals following the show. Lights shone, glitter sparkled and the models and creators alike glowed with happiness as they walked the runway one more time to round out the 2018 Baylor Fashion Show.
