CORECTION//: Emil Sleman won thrid place and Roia Noor won second place.
The student fashion organization TRENDS presented their 34th annual student fashion show “Through the Looking Glass: A Fashion Wonderland” at the USU Northridge Center this past Saturday, April 27.
The runways were graced with collections made by 16 designers who adapted the wonderland theme in their designs.
Designers and the fashion show production class had been working for months in preparation for this show and it translated with a packed house and a professionally structured show.
“It’s really nice to see how artistic the students are,” said fashion show attendee Danielle Watson. “I liked how they had women of all sizes, shapes and colors.”
Model Ajima Cole has participated in TRENDS fashion show before, and found the show was bigger and better this year.
“They did a fantastic job with the show,” said Cole “It’s really interesting to see all the types of designers and how much they’ve grown and how the different pieces they think of come to life. “
Senior designer Amparo Vasquez won first place for her “Earthbound” collection, which she innovatively designed raw materials like grass and pine cones to create mesmerizing runway looks.
“It started off as a fun project to see what I could use and make it look like it’s not what it is, but make people believe it’s actually a garment that you could wear to a couture show,” said Vasquez.
Her collection featured bark bracelets, pine cone necklaces and bags made of spikey gum drop tree balls.
“My dream is to be able to make costumes for movies because it gives you the most freedom, or to work on a couture fashion show,” said Vasquez.
Designers took on the idea of the classic story of Alice in Wonderland in a variety of different looks from casual wear to couture. Many looks were worthy to wear right off the runway, such as trends like body chains, flowery detailing, lace and high-low dresses.
Emil Sleman, won second place for his collection, “Oubil,” explained how one inspiration transcended in his work.
“My main inspiration was my co-workers mom who went through had a case of amnesia and she forgot a lot of important memories,” said Sleman. “I tried to emulate what a woman who was going through amnesia, (what would she) decide between: forgetting all the memories or enjoying life full force.”
Sleman’s garment’s texture detailing was garden-like with flowers being the eye-catching piece which turned out to be laser cut polyester ribbons on mesh.
“I want to make one-of-a-kind pieces and want people to feel something when they look at it,” said Selman.
Haley Kraus, the show’s co-director and a junior fashion merchandising major said “the challenge was staying organized and trying to pull enough sponsors in.”
The production class has been preparing since the beginning of the semester and although they only met once a week many of them put time outside of class to make the show happen.
“ I’ve never done anything to this scale before and I think it went well,” said Krauss. “I’m proud of the designers and everyone’s time and energy that was put into this show.”
