An Event That s a Cut Above: Fashion Show Set for June 8

There’s been no short cut to success for the fashion design students in the University of Cincinnati’s internationally ranked College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP).

Thanks to the university’s top-ten cooperative-education program, the students who will exhibit collections during the Friday, June 8, annual fashion show have extensive, professional work experiences under their collective belts – having worked for designers like Anna Sui and Zac Posen in New York, as well as companies like Aeropostale, Inc.; Fossil, Liz Claiborne, Macy’s and Reebok.

And it shows in the range and creativity of the collections to be displayed in the professionally modeled, choreographed and lighted show sponsored by Macy’s Inc. Helping to open the show will be Terry Lundgren, chair, president and CEO of Macy’s.

The fashion show is part of a June 5-9 weeklong creative extravaganza – called “DAAPWorks” and sponsored by P&G Design – featuring hundreds of capstone architecture, design, art and planning works by DAAP students.

Among the students participating in the June 8 fashion show are

Senior Katie Berlin, 23, with her “East Meets Wild West” collection. Berlin mixes vintage cowboy influences with the traditional dress and fashion of eastern cultures in four eclectic, “easy breezy” ensembles that she promised, “I’ll wear after the show is over. After all, the genesis of my collection was the question: What do I need in my wardrobe?”

Berlin integrates traditional dress from India (sari), Japan (kimono), China (cheungsam) and Africa (shift dress) with cowboy accents and materials – cowboy boots, bolo ties, chaps, denim and leather. For instance, she shortens a traditionally colored sari bodice of Indian silk with a cotton border and combines it with a short, tiered suede skirt rich with fringe. Accenting the ensemble are cowboy boots, bolo tie and wide belt with accompanying belt buckle. “This garment is about motion,” explained Berlin. “The cape of the sari moves along with the tiers and fringe of the skirt.”

Similarly, Berlin combines a dramatically floral kimono top – representing eastern cultures – with denim shorts and thigh-high denim chaps. She updates the cheungsam dress traditional of China, maintaining the mandarin collar but with a plunging neckline. The blue denim cheungsam top with suede piping and leather frog closures is worn over a knee-length, form-fitting, red, satin dress of Chinese brocade also containing red and white gingham side vents.

Senior Jenny Carl, 24, of Mt. Airy, is creating a soft, simple and delicately colored collection titled “reborn in the mourning,” reflecting on the regeneration possible after loss. These clothes are so sheer and light that “they look like they’re about to evaporate,” stated Carl.

For instance, one voluminous but airy floor-length dress created from a patchwork of silk and chiffon is actually no more than two hugely round sleeves attached to the model by means of elastic at the shoulder. The sleeves meet in the front to conceal the bust and again in the back. Other ensembles are similarly characterized by very fine, voluminous fabrics and muted colors. For instance, Carl also pairs a pink skirt of chiffon ruffles featuring a variable hemline with a dusty satin bodice that feels something like a second skin. Other garments in her collection include chiffon, knee-length bloomers; knitted, pink bedshorts; and a white raw silk and blue chiffon mini-skirt.

Senior Sarah Lade, 23, of Colerain is returning to the 1970s for inspiration of a collection she titles “Disco Sheen.” Lade admits that there are those – including her own father – who question whether the 70s are an appropriate fashion “inspiration.” But, Lade defends her love of what she terms a “fun” fashion era. “I’ve seen pictures of my dad in a white jumpsuit. And then there were the gold chains and huge platform shoes with no practicality. They were just having fun with fabric in the 70s. That’s what inspires me,” she explained.

Lade doesn’t dive into the 70s completely. There is no polyester in her collection. Instead, she’s created five garments using metallic-glazed, twill denim; metallic-knit tube and tank tops; sheer, loose-fitting crop tops of silk chiffon and – of course – platform shoes. She consistently uses metallic denim (a stretch denim that looks as though it’s been spray painted) for high-waisted shorts, mini-skirt, Capri pants and long pants. These denim bottoms are paired with metallic tube or lingerie tops.

The use of stretch denim and glitzy tops is Lade’s way of experimenting with volume and proportion. She said, “I was a dancer for 17 years with the Diana Lyne School of Dance in Cincinnati so, in some ways, these garments remind me of dancewear. It’s a play on volume, a tight structure vs. wide volume.”

Pre-junior Holly Ott, 20, is creating two dramatic dancewear/bodywear garments based on the Latin ballroom dance – the paso doble (two step) – a dance that serves as a metaphorical representation of a matador (the male dancer) and his cape (the female dancer). Ott is creating two ensembles for women. One is her fashion representation of a matador: an ensemble encompassing high-waisted, black, capri pants of glittering spandex offset by a red lyrca top and a black, cropped jacket of spandex. Her fashion representation of the cape: a dramatic, full-length red dress of glittering lycra. It is open-backed with curving cutouts in the front and a thigh-high slit.

In creating these garments, Ott is drawing upon her own background as a dancer. She began her dance career at age 3 and danced with the Dayton Ballet Co. for more than 10 years. Still, Ott admitted, “Working with stretch fabrics is a challenge. In sewing elastic, you have to take care not to stretch the fabric too far but still keep the tension where it should be.”

Ott has had two cooperative-education quarters at Abercrombie & Fitch Company in Columbus, and this summer, she will co-op at Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, designing costumes for the ice-skating show along with other responsibilities.

Because of high demand for the event, which is now in its 56th year, UC will offer two   back-to-back fashion shows. The first held at 8 p.m. (and already a sell out), and the second at 10:30 p.m., on Friday, June 8. Both shows will be held  under a large, big-top tent on the grounds of UC’s internationally recognized College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning, located at the corner of Clifton Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. Parking is available in Brodie Garage (also called Clifton Court Garage), located on the east side of DAAP.

Tickets for the 10:30 p.m. event are $35 for the general public. Tickets may be purchased from 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday thru Friday, in the UC School of Design office located in Room 6415 of the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning.

For information, call 513-556-4298.

Also, for the first time ever, the fashion show will be Webast at 8 p.m., Friday, June 1. Go to the DAAPWorks page at that time in order to click on the link for that Webast.

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