Lab coat designs by CCA students took the runway on October 11, 2007, at the first annual Above & Beyond Gala at the San Francisco Design Center. The creatively reinterpreted hospital garments, worn by live models, were designed by CCA students in courses led by Textiles adjunct professor Richard Elliott and students from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. The coats were bold conflations of art and science, ranging from bright green to pink with patterns mimicking cancer cells, bacteria, and stitches.

The Above & Beyond Gala also featured a performance by Gregangelo and Velocity Circus, a theatrical and acrobatic troupe led by CCA alumnus Gregangelo Herrera (Individualized Major 1989). Their spectacular show invoked the beauties of science with acrobats and dancers decked out in costumes whose patterns, under black light, showed images of the inside of the human body. Their props were inspired by iconic scientific images such as the double helix.

The gala benefited NCIRE, the Veterans Health Research Institute, the country's largest nonprofit research institute associated with a Veterans Administration medical center. For more information on the NCIRE please visit www.ncire.org.

Photos by Gitty Duncan