all words: Kara Mae
all photos: Josh Sisk courtesy of Maryland Institute College of Art
Considering that the “Fibers” department at MICA nurtures budding fashion designers and multimedia sculptors, the popular annual fashion show is always guaranteed to inspire the style-minded and artistic alike.
The theme this year was “Eclectic,” centered around the concepts of fashion in relation to geography, activism, gender and identity.
At the opening of the show, the organizers and emcees danced out onto the catwalk to Sly & The Family Stone and launched the energetic mood that held up for most of the show.
The first collection was one of several collections of elaborate costumery. Those who preferred the more traditional runway
collections could at least appreciate the skill and time-intensive work of the more experimental designers.
Innovation within the more wearable designs came in the form of surprising utilitarian uses, metamorphic wearability options, and of
course non-traditional materials. A collection of lifelike masks worn with jeans and T-Shirts, set to minimalist music, provided a bizarre interlude challenging ideas not only of fashion but of the fashion show itself.
Inspirations drawn from multiculturalism, modern art and haute couture exhibited across this years collections demonstrated that the fashion ideas coming from an art school don’t necessarily have to be insularly-inspired and inaccessible.
we’re everywhere, reggie!
April 25, 2008 at 2:35 pmMarymount University in Arlington also holds an annual fashion show (http://www.marymount.edu/pim/2008/). In fact, their show was today. All garments are student-made, and fashion merchandising students produce the actual runway show. Every year the school honors fashion designers who actually come to the show and later in the day critique the senior designers’ portfolios. Last year, Michael Kors came to the show; this year, Cynthia Rowley was honored (apparently Christian Siriano from Project Runway was one of the guests in the audience this year!)
That being said, this show looks a little more eccentric and interesting.
April 25, 2008 at 3:18 pmI would just like to say—our clothing at the Marymount Fashion show does not look like random, weird sea creatures. You are an ART school….stick to that, and leave the fashion to the people who actually understand.
Oh wait, who was at your show? Cynthia Rowley, Christian Siriano, WWD and various other press? THATS WHAT I THOUGHT.
April 30, 2008 at 10:35 pmNot all of us here at MU share the same views as MU Fashionista. She obviously does not understand that Fashion is a form of art. As a senior designer at Marymount University, I would like to applaud the students at MICA.
May 1, 2008 at 11:48 am
Daggumit is this BYT or Killoggs?
April 25, 2008 at 2:17 pm