Students Plan a Fashionable Finish to the Year

Some “wears” will be out of this world at the June 7 "Fashion Show and Honors Night" at the University of Cincinnati.  Think “The Jetsons” or Atlantis.  Or think rag dolls, Russia, Italy, the Girl Scouts, weddings and brides. 

These are just a few of the themes among the collections created by UC fashion seniors and other undergraduates, all on pins and needles as they show the best that they can do at

8 p.m., Saturday, June 7

, at UC’s

College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning

(DAAP).  The professionally modeled, choreographed and lighted show, judged by Seventh Avenue designer Anthony Muto, is the opening shot of a week-long extravaganza called “DAAPWorks,” a

June 8-14

college-wide celebration and exhibit featuring over 300 student designers and artists. 

More than 80 students will participate in the fashion show, exhibiting the talents honed at UC and with years of international travel/study as well as cooperative education work quarters with such firms as Tommy Hilfiger, Inc.; American Eagle Outfitters; Neiman Marcus; Sears, Roebuck and Co.; Limited Express; Gap, Inc.; Abercrombie & Fitch Company and Liz Claiborne Inc.

Among the designs on display will be:

• The Jetson Collection by Bec Ulrich of Iowa.  A former fine art major in sculpture, Ulrich plays with form and materials in her men’s and women’s garments.  Her garments mix wax, window screens, leather and silk mesh.  For instance, Ulrich fashioned a high-necked, sleeveless men’s shirt of silk mesh, which she then dipped into a paint tray of melted yellow-and-red wax, producing burnt fingers and a sculptural shirt textured with orange wax in varying patterns and thicknesses.  The accompanying pants of blue leather “puddle” below the knee thanks to gathers she’s incorporated along the calf.  Other ensembles employ “window screen rings” to orbit the body and asymmetrical ovals made of screen to overarch the feet – encouraging the Jetson comparison.  Ulrich also uses window screen to form a cobra hood that skims but does not touch the head and to form a skirt that resembles drooped petals, again, made from window screen.  She is hand-making all of her nickel and silver closures.

• The traditional wrapping of tribal cultures in African and the Indian subcontinent inspire the collection of Shawnte Nelson.  Warm earth tones dominate her knitwear collection that includes a versatile V-neck dress that can be adjusted to wrap the body in slightly altering configurations for day or evening wear.  Another ensemble includes a cowl that can create a high-neck effect or wrap the arm for a capped-sleeve effect as well as a skirt where vertical drawstrings along each side enable the wearer to adjust its length.

• Lush, dramatic prints, colors, jewelry and fitted fabrics – influenced, among other things,  by their travel studies in Italy – comprise a combined collection by twins Kristy and Katie Boiano of Mason.  Their collection for men and women mixes masculine and feminine elements throughout.  It includes hip-hugging pants that flare dramatically below the knee, a shirt where the beaded designs along the sleeves recall swirling tattoos, and a short, sleeveless dress where the black leather material alternates between a fine mesh and solid, arching flowers, combining for a very organic flow.  After graduation, Katie will work as a menswear assistant designer at Gap, Inc., Old Navy Division in NYC, and Kristy will work as an assistant designer at Tommy Hilfiger, Inc., also in NYC.

• A 1920s garden party is the sense derived from the collection by Jamie Sammetinger of Wapakoneta, Ohio.  She uses luxurious fabrics – silks, antique brocades and linens—as well as perforated leather and upholstery fabrics to create garments of understated elegance as well as those with a sense of timeworn comfort.  For instance, one ensemble includes a striped blue-and-white sweater with long, raglan sleeves that extend to the tips of the fingers, recalling an antique doll.  Another ensemble consists of a sheer dress of organza-like papyrus fabric with an ornate floral pattern.  Over the dress is a pale blue coat of upholstery fabric with eyelet and button closures.  Key-hole cutouts under the arms reveal the soft floral patterns of the dress beneath.   

UC’s 2003

Fashion Show and Honors Night

also serves as a tribute to Seventh Avenue designer Anthony Muto.  For 26 years, Muto has served as a critic for the UC program, networked on behalf of students and arranged employment interviews as well as cooperative education quarters for them.  His work that been featured in books and in museum exhibits at such venues as the Philadelphia Museum of Art and New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.  In addition, he has designed gowns for several first ladies:  Barbara Bush, Rosalynn Carter, Pat Nixon and Lady Bird Johnson.

Also attending UC’s show will be New York designers Michael Kaye, Irene Mack and Gabrielle Knecht as well as representatives from companies like J.C. Penney Company, Inc. and Nike.  The show begins at 8 p.m., Saturday, June 7.  It will be held under a huge tent on the east side of UC’s College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning.  For tickets or information, call (513) 981-DAAP. 

• General Admission tickets for the fashion show are $35.
• Preferred seating tickets are $50.
• Patron seating, which includes a pre-show cocktail reception and preferred seating, are $100.
• Benefactor seating, which includes valet parking, pre-show reception and preferred seating, is $150.