UC Students to Prove They re Real "Sew-It-Alls" at June Fashion Show

London… New York… Los Angeles… and all points between. That’s where University of Cincinnati fashion design students have worked throughout their cooperative education quarters while still students – often the same places they’ll be heading upon graduation from one of the most respected fashion design programs in the country.

But while they’re still here in Cincinnati, these same students from UC’s internationally ranked School of Design, part of the top-ranked College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP), will present their finest fashion collections at 8 p.m., Friday, June 13, in the university’s Campus Recreation Center, a building designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Thom Mayne.

The in-demand event sold out within days after tickets went on sale in early May. However, the event will be Webcast starting at 8 p.m., Friday, June 13. To view that Webcast, go to the DAAPWorks page and click on the Webcast link that will be in place by June 13.

In addition, the fashion show will be aired on Cincinnati's downtown Fountain Square jumbotron at 11 a.m., Saturday, June 14. 

There are other ways to enjoy the spirit of the show, including 

• Visiting an online slide show previewing this year’s event.
• Visiting an online slide show of the 2007 UC fashion show itself.
• Viewing a video clip from last year’s fashion show.

The professionally modeled, choreographed and lighted show is sponsored by Macy’s Inc. The fashion show is part of a June 10-14 week-long, college-wide display of creative design, architecture, art and planning projects – called “DAAPWorks” – that is sponsored by P&G Design.

Among the students participating in UC’s 2008 fashion show:

Senior Althea Harper, 23, will display eight eveningwear or 1930s- inspired ensembles that feature dark, iridescent silk fabrics obtained when she recently worked six months in London as part of her required (paid) cooperative education quarters. All her garments contrast the sheen of silk with the matte effect of jersey or wool to achieve a dramatic effect in playing with light.

Her garments include evening gowns with strong geometric lines produced by asymmetrical, off-the-shoulder, draped sleeves; pleated, full-length skirts with 360-degree squared trains; beading and elongated straps; as well as garments that recall the chic daywear of the 1930s.

The 1930s-inspired garments include a pencil skirt combined with a dramatically flaring, belted jacket with A-line sleeves and high collar. Other ensembles create a similarly slim silhouette. These include tight, form-fitting black jersey pants combined with an oversized, high-collared, black wool jacket; and a purple silk pencil-skirt dress that integrates four yards of green-black peacock feathers that run vertically from neck to thigh on the right side of the dress.

Upon graduation in June, Harper is hoping to work for a designer where she gets to regularly take part in runway shows.

She explained, “In my last two co-op quarters, I worked for British designers Vivienne  Westwood and Alexander McQueen in London. While I was there, we went to Paris’ fashion week and participated in and saw the runway shows. There was nothing like it for the drama and excitement of what’s coming next in fashion.”

In addition, Harper also had paid, cooperative education quarters with designers Anna Sui and Zac Posen in New York City, with Garan in New York City and with Victoria’s Secret in Dayton.

Senior Amy Longo, 22, will exhibit six ensembles inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. Each garment – something that could be worn to a night club party – in some way reflects one of the book’s six characters: Alice, the Caterpillar, the Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter, the Queen of Hearts and the White Rabbit.

Said Longo, “Alice’s garment is sheer fun and very feminine. The dress features a short, poofed skirt – a floral brocade of cream with bright, pink flowers. A bright blue tulle beneath the skirt provides the fullness of a bell shape. That’s contrasted with a form-fitting bustier of a bodice, all topped off with a big bow at the back.”

Longo’s Queen-of-Hearts’ dress is similar in shape to her “Alice” dress but featuring different – and dominating – coloring. The floral brocade of the skirt combines a purple base for a top skirt undergirded by a bright, neon organza underskirt. The top skirt is studded with holographic stickers that shimmer and change under varying lights. 

Almost all of Longo’s garments feature form-fitting bustiers along with light-hearted touches. For instance the bustier and leggings that comprise the “Mad Hatter” ensemble integrate a mini-top hat as well the remnants of a smashed set of tea cups. Longo broke the teacups and then picked up the pieces to serve as the “jewels” on an asymmetrical, leather belt. In addition, the “White Rabbit” ensemble will feature a barrette with a small clock face attached.

The best part of creating this senior collection, according to Longo, is that “it’s all mine. It’s my vision without the need to conform to market trends or sales.”

After graduation, Longo will head to New York City to find work. She’s already had a number of cooperative education quarters there, working for Garan; Aeropostale, Inc.; Macy’s Merchandising Group; Heatherette; and designer Betsey Johnson in New York City, as well as Fossil in Dallas.

Junior Brittany Krotts, 22, will exhibit a tailored coat, two lingerie ensembles and a knitwear design in the 2008 UC fashion show. The coat is a light-weight, light-grey wool with a full, upright collar that reaches to the nose before folding over. Exaggerated pockets with inverted pleats are placed fully to the side on the coat exterior and resemble fashionable pouches.

Though lightweight, the coat is carefully designed for warmth, according to Krotts. She explained, “I inserted and sewed in an extra layer of flannel between the coat’s outermost wool layer and the innermost lining.”

The best part of working on both her tailoring and knitwear projects is the rare experience they bring. Said Krotts, “Both the tailoring and the requirement that we create our own knit fabrics mean we learn very specialized techniques. I’ve learned that not all schools teach these. When I’ve been on co-op working assignments, I’ve had supervisors tell me they wish they’d learned to do what I’m learning in school.”

She added, “For me, it’s all about instant gratification. I can envision a knit fabric and then immediately work to create it. I don’t have to go out on a hunt hoping someone somewhere has made the fabric I want. I love it all. I’m learning a new art form.”

Krotts’ cooperative education work assignments have taken her to Abercrombie & Fitch Company in New Albany, Ohio; Martin & Osa in New York City; and a small lingerie designer, Dessous, also in New York City.

Junior Holly Ott, 21, will exhibit two garments in the UC fashion show. The first is a knee-length, magenta wool coat asymmetrical at the front and set off by a shawl collar. The second garment will be a knit dancewear dress designed for use as a ballet warm-up garment, consisting of leg warmers and a dress with long sleeves, high front collar but scooped low to reveal the back.

In creating this second hand-knit garment, Ott is making use of her own considerable dance experience. She danced with the Dayton Ballet from age three to 18 and participated in the Dayton’s annual Muse Machine musical at the Victoria Theater when in high school.

Some of her UC-required cooperative education quarters have been dance-related, including paid work experiences in the costume department of Sandusky’s Cedar Point Amusement Park’s ice-skating show; designing and making costumes for regional high school and college theater musicals when co-opping with Costume Gallery in Newport, Ky., and an upcoming summer co-op at Cicci Dance Supplies, a dancewear design firm in Finleyville, Pa. Ott has also gained real-world design experience at Hollister Co. and  Abercrombie & Fitch Company in New Albany, Ohio.

However, in some respects, she considers the detailed designs and construction currently required of her in her UC classes as more challenging than some of the real-world work required of her on co-op. For instance, she and her fellow juniors are currently learning to create their own knitwear fabrics. “It’s very detail oriented,” said Ott. “If you miss one step in creating a knit fabric, you have to go back and start over. It’s pretty much the same thing when we worked on our tailed coats. If you make a mistake, you’ve got to go back to the beginning. You have to have patience and practice and tackle the project in the right sequential order of tasks. There’s no skipping tasks or short cuts for very precise, highly technical work.”

Pre-junior Blayne Goldwasser, 21, will design two boldly colored swimsuits with strong, geometric lines. The garments will be made of 100-percent nylon spandex, a fabric Goldwasser likes to work with. “Obviously, spandex fits the human form easily without darts or pleating. It has some challenges for me because I’ve never fit elastic into a spandex garment, which I’m going to have to do. But, overall, the swimsuits should fit the models well without my having to use some of the more time-consuming techniques,” she explained.

Goldwasser should do well with her bodywear project, in part because of the experiences she’s enjoyed during her required cooperative education quarters at UC. She first co-opped with Sewing Services in Cincinnati, a manufacturer of general and specialty children’s wear. During that co-op, she stated that she sewed projects every day, including stylized rodeo-show apparel for children. Goldwasser has also co-opped at Aeropostale, Inc., in New York City.

Pre-junior Heather McIntyre, 21, is also creating two swimwear garments, a two-piece and a one-piece suit. These will be paired with a loose-fitting cover-up skirt as well as similarly loose-fitting cover-up trousers. She too is looking forward to working with a stretch fabric, saying, “Stretch fabrics used for bodywear do fit everyone without the work of completing darts. For us as designers, we have to be very aware of how the body moves and functions in creating these form-fitting designs.”

McIntyre has co-opped at Abercrombie & Fitch, Inc., in Columbus, and at Martin & Osa (a division of American Eagle Outfitters, Inc.) in New York City. Much of her co-op work has focused on creating “tech packages” used by manufacturers in producing designs. Explained McIntyre, “In a tech package, I would be responsible for stipulating to a factory the type of thread, its color, the buttons, the fabric to use for the zipper and other aspects of a garment so that it fits, looks and feels the way it’s meant to.”

Her next co-op in summer 2008 will be at Fossil in Dallas, Texas, where she’ll contribute to the small, leather goods accessory line.

Sophomore Christine Devitt, 19, will model her own red-dress design, a knee-length garment consisting of two layers. The sleeveless underlayer, likely of satin, will feature a boat neck, empire waistline and a circular, flaring skirt. The sheer top layer, of either chiffon or organza, will feature short sleeves.

Devitt explained that the garment was inspired by geometric architecture and origami tessellations. “Looking through the sheer outer layer to the shiny satin under-dress is like looking through the windows of a building. I also reference formal paper-folding arts by stitching edges into the outer garment. That’s the best part of this project: Experimenting with different fabric manipulations and expressing what I enjoy about architecture and paper-folding in the form of a dress,” she said.

Sophomore Emily Rodgers, 19, is designing a sleeveless, knee-length red dress wherein an iridescent fabric – perhaps a silk chiffon or even just a spray-painted polyester – will be contrasted with a matte red fabric. Rodgers herself will model the gown and chose to create a shorter, sleeveless garment because it will be worn during warm-weather months.

“What I like most about this assignment is that I’m designing for myself,” said Rodgers. “It’s a garment not only for the end-of-the-year fashion show but is also eligible to be displayed at a May 2 American Heart Association banquet. So, one of the requirements is that the dress be red, and red is something that I would never design for myself because of my individual coloring. So, that makes the garment an extra challenge for me, to see how I’ll pull off something that wouldn’t normally work for me.”

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