A bright array of bold, vibrant looks designed and modeled by Brown and Rhode Island School of Design students captivated audience members in the Granoff Center for the Creative Arts Thursday at Fashion@Brown鈥檚 10th annual runway show.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a terrific landmark,鈥� wrote Sasha Pinto 鈥�21, president of Fashion@Brown, in an email to The Herald. The show has been a 鈥渓abor of love鈥� for everyone involved as a celebration of the success and history of the organization.
鈥淓ach collection tells a story,鈥� she wrote. 鈥淏rown students are immensely creative with a myriad of interests (and) 鈥� our designers are the true embodiment of this sentiment.鈥�
鈥淚 thought it was really great,鈥� said Glory Lee 鈥�24. 鈥淲ith each collection I could tell how much students put their history, their culture into their work.鈥�
Directors of Design Lynn Hlaing 鈥�21, Sebastian Immonen 鈥�23 and RISD student Kasia Hope are responsible for recruiting designers, helping them create their collections and pulling the show together artistically.
With 12 designers and almost 50 models, this year鈥檚 show has been 鈥渢he biggest and best show there is so far,鈥� Hlaing said. He noted that there were 鈥渕ore designers than previous years.鈥�
According to Hope, there was no specific theme for the runway 鈥� apart from a general celebration of the 10th anniversary 鈥� in order to allow the designers as much creative freedom as possible. 鈥淲e decided against choosing one theme because everyone had such wildly different interests,鈥� she said.
In addition to the variety of artistic visions, Hlaing said, there was 鈥渟uch a diverse range 鈥� of experience鈥� among designers. 鈥淚t definitely makes for a more interesting and cool adventure,鈥� he continued. 鈥淓veryone鈥檚 bouncing creativity off of each other.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 really fun to see the concepts develop differently among every designer. Everyone鈥檚 pulling from either heritage or memory or aesthetic and the way they鈥檙e developing that concept 鈥� and finally putting it into their looks is so exciting,鈥� Immonen said.
As the show came to a close and the models entered the runway for their last walk, steady applause accompanied the final exhibition of each designer鈥檚 works, including a series of yellow and orange outfits as well as a collection composed of red and pink mesh pieces. Another model wore a dress made of coins, and one look was accessorized with a sword.
Quinn Coleman 鈥�23, who has designed two prior collections, remarked on the particularly collaborative nature of this year鈥檚 design process. 鈥淚鈥檓 used to pulling all-nighters sewing, but not with other people. It was kind of weird creating together in the studio, but it鈥檚 been pretty good.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 crazy to see how other students are out here making clothes, and just creating things,鈥� said Jenya Kirsch-Posner 鈥�23. Kyran Flynn 鈥�23 reflected a similar sense of amazement. 鈥淚 came because I knew some of the models,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 expect to like it as much as I did.鈥�
Behind the bright lights and colorful balloons of the runway, the Events team coordinated the logistics of the show, fine-tuning technical details from choosing decorations to booking the rooms in Granoff.
鈥淲e make sure everyone knows where they鈥檙e supposed to be and when they鈥檙e supposed to be there,鈥� said Sapphire Faruque 鈥�22, one of the Events Directors.鈥淲e鈥檙e in charge of setting up 鈥� (and) making sure it runs.鈥�
Madison Hough 鈥�22, also an Events Director, mentioned how managing the show involved 鈥渁 lot of moving pieces.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to make it more a celebration of the designers,鈥� she said, adding that 鈥渢here鈥檚 been a lot more involvement with other teams.鈥�
鈥淓very year the shows will keep getting better and better,鈥� Hope said. 鈥淚鈥檓 excited (to see) where we can grow and continue growing.
