Pre-Selection 2011: Battles with Body Forms

This past week, the fashion design students showed the results of their blood sweat and tears at pre-selection, one of the first checkpoints in the fashion show production process, when the designers present their work including senior collections, swimwear, lingerie, evening wear, and childrens wear. The panel of judges then made their initial decisions on which collections and individual works are worthy of the show. For the designers, the days leading up to this are spent locked in the studio, tweaking and adjusting their work until it reaches something they feel can be put in front of the judges. The intimidation factor here is that of Project Runway or American idol, with judges from the Fashion Design faculty who are truly knowledgeable in what makes good design and quality, including Roberta Gruber, and Keith Newhouse. The day progressed and all the Design & Merchandising students got their work out in for the week as they helped the designers get garments on and off the body forms and drag the body forms from the hallway to the studio. We worked on keeping track of each garments, giving them numbers and taking photos, to make putting the show in order as seamless as possible.

A few designers in, it became clear that the talent being brought to this show is consistent and unique. Not many pieces were cut, as the judges remained impressed with each collection. I spent the whole day helping out with the process and while I ended the day with sore legs, due to my endless battle with body forms, I loved seeing every piece and being there to get a first look at each designer’s collection aesthetic. The foundation of our show started to come into clear focus. The designers showed off leather cut outs, structural architectural silhouettes, reptile prints reminiscent of Alexander McQueen Spring 2010 collection, lingerie with a punk edge underneath studded miniskirts, large fur collars atop thick succulent suede coats, whimsical childrens wear, distressed hand woven knits, renaissance inspired fabrics juxtaposed with leather corsets, and so much more. The thing that I was most amazed by was how unique each individual collection was. One would potentially expect some of these designers to unconsciously end up with similar visions since they spend so many of their working hours together, but that is not the case at all. I could really see each vision individually and their inspiration statements really resonated with the visual outcome. Here is a sneak peek at some of the staggering details that graced the designs:

Be sure to "Like" The 2011 Drexel Fashion Show facebook page, which has gone live this week, and stop by Nesbitt during the week from 12pm-2pm to purchase tickets or online at drexel.edu/westphal.

The Art of Fashion: Roberto Capucci

Yesterday, the Fashion Show Production class took a trip to the Philadelphia Museum of Art to see the Roberto Capucci exhibit. When we walked into the exhibit two museum workers gave us each an audio set and told us to set it to 700 for the introduction. I set my headphones to channel 700 and started a journey that I didn’t expect. It was the third dress that I came upon that made me much more aware of how special and beautifully constructed the clothes were that I was about to see. A red dress inspired by the ripples that a stone makes on the water. With the elegance of classic lines, the structure of architectural elements, and the organic beauty found in nature, this dress really encapsulated the elements that made up Capucci’s creative foundation.

I continued on, winding my way through a maze of 80 unique works, and I found myself blocking out the rest of the world while I swam through a sea of expertly crafted pleating, staggering prisms of color, perfectly hand beaded embroidery and rich fabrics. Set against black walls, the clothes, or should I say works of art, popped and engulfed the audience.

Capucci had definite creative benchmarks in his career. He explored color and clean silhouettes when he moved to Paris in the early 60’s. He started exploring the juxtaposition of odd materials with flowing fabrics after a trip to India in 1970. He used bamboo on the collar, waste and cuffs of a green silk dress, and hard stones on pink silk taffeta. Capucci even explored straw as a fabric. As ready-to-wear became more in demand, Capucci refused to sacrifice fashion as a form of art, and his pieces transformed into one of a kind architectural forms. In the early 80’s his sculpture dresses were products of a range of inspiration. Capucci was inspired by art, architecture, nature, music, sculpture, fruit, the human body and so much more. He has gone past anything most fashionistas today have ever seen, utilizing plastic cubes, glow in the dark beads, and wired sculptures wrapped around silk dresses. As time went on he became well known for his perfectly detailed pleating and his symbiosis of structure and movement.

Another amazing aspect of the exhibit was Capucci’s drawings. He drew out every detail before he created; every pleat, every bead, every color, and every shape were perfectly planned out.

Capucci refers to his work as "a study in form.”

The exhibit is up until June 5^th, so be sure to make the time to see it, because fashion will probably never reach Capucci’s level again in today’s ready-to-wear centric universe.

With the 25% off coupon for the gift shop, we all received after the exhibit, I bought myself a pack of postcards featuring pictures of the works at the exhibit. For your viewing pleasure, I have scanned and posted some of my favorites here:

Inspiration Takes Us to Wonderful Places

The production process of the 2011 Drexel Fashion Show has been kicked into high gear this past week, and pre-selection is less than two weeks away. As the student director of this year’s show, I have been watching even more fashion shows online than I usually do. In fact sometimes I even block out a half hour of my night in favor of watching a few shows, especially from Fall Fashion Week 2011. From New York, Miami, Paris and Milan, I have been on Fashion Show overload. I find that once I start watching a few shows, I look up an hour later and realize I just inhaled about 15 shows from the comfort of my own couch. To kick off my weekly posts during the production of this year’s Drexel Fashion Show, I thought I would share with you my favorite shows of the season. A big piece of what interests me about these shows is the incredibly unique inspirations behind them, touching upon different cultures and different generations.

To give you a little preview of the inspirations behind the collections walking the runway at this year's Drexel Fashion Show: expect to explore the art of origami, take a walk in Japan and Cambodia, get a henna tattoo in Morocco, and listen to the smooth sounds of Miles Davis...

Proenza Schouler: most people who know me are well aware of my obsession with these guys, and this collection was my favorite so far, the fabrics, colors, and silhouettes were all perfectly executed...not to mention the shoes.

Inspiration: Native American blankets

Tommy Hilfiger: Hilfiger is usually too classic-American-sportswear for my taste, but this year’s fall collection was irresistibly cool, including the Runway itself.

Inspiration: Girlfriends of 1970’s Rock Stars

Oscar De La Renta: Always beautiful, this season’s collection explored color, layers, fur, classic lines, vibrant prints all in one, cohesive breathtaking collection.

Inspiration: Uzbekistan meets Vegas (only De La Renta could make this combo work)

All images courtesy of www.Vogue.com

See the full shows at www.Elletv.elle.com