CCA News
CCA 2010 Senior Fashion Show to Take Place May 7, 2010
Posted on Thursday, March 18, 2010, by Brenda Tucker
The Fashion Design Program at California College of the Arts is pleased to announce the 2010 Senior Fashion Show, to be held at 8 p.m. on Friday, May 7, at CCA's San Francisco campus. The show is juried by industry professionals and features original designs worn by runway models. General-admission tickets are $30 in advance and $40 at the door; VIP tickets are $100 and include reserved seating at the event plus admission to the Champagne & Chocolate pre-party at 6:30 p.m.
This year's senior class is packed with talented designers whose cutting-edge creations are aimed at a wide variety of audiences:
Samuel Forno has already been featured in Metropolis magazine for his "No-Waste Pattern Design", which minimizes waste in every possible respect. Forno chose CCA for its special emphasis on sustainable design.
Laura Schmits's collection is titled "Mortiphera," Latin for "deadly things." Inspired by themes of decay and deterioration, it is the product of extensive research into historical fashions, tailoring practices, and textile manipulations as well as the archaic art form of the silhouette. Schmits refers to her five pieces as "decaying suits"; they offer a striking visual juxtaposition of growth and deterioration. Their seam placements, construction, and volume placements all serve to manipulate and distort the body's usual proportions. Schmits placed second in the CFDA Scholarship competition earlier this year.
Amy Nelson has created a lingerie collection called "Vamp" that is classically sexy and structurally rooted in vintage foundation wear, with influences ranging from the 1920s to the 1950s, Theda Bara to Bettie Page.
Megan Miller's collection, "The Constant Traveler," is aimed at girls between 10 and 12 years of age. It offers an eclectic yet sophisticated mix of fabrics, colors, textures, sizes, and styles, with numerous, intricate added details. Miller got her initial inspiration from a hand-me-down flannel shirt given to her by her older brother, a cast-off sweater from her grandmother, and a military jacket she found at a flea market.
Also this evening, the international fashion magazine Surface will again present its Emerging Talent Award to one particularly gifted member of CCA's graduating Fashion Design class. The winner, selected by the editors, will receive a profile of his or her work in the magazine's annual "Avant Guardian" issue and will be flown to New York to attend the photo shoot.
About CCA's Fashion Design Program
Established in 1996, CCA's Fashion Design Program is an idea-driven, craft-based course of study that emphasizes design concepts and skill development. The goal is to produce designers of daring originality who are willing to explore across disciplines and contribute to fashion as an aspect of modern art and culture. Students gain technical expertise in pattern making, sewing, draping, and fashion illustration. They develop creative solutions to the challenges of sustainability by designing fashions that respect the environment and preserve native cultures.
Amy Sarabi, who graduated from the program in 2007, is currently a competing designer on the hit television show Project Runway.
Other alumni are working in all aspects of the industry for companies such as John Varvatos, Abercrombie & Fitch, Gap Inc., Gymboree, Jones of NYC, Levi Strauss & Co., TIBI, Ralph Lauren, Narciso Rodriguez, Athleta, Elie Tahari, and Thom Browne. Many have developed their own firms in the United States and abroad.
About California College of the Arts
Founded in 1907, California College of the Arts is noted for the interdisciplinarity and breadth of its programs. It offers studies in 20 undergraduate and seven graduate majors in the areas of fine arts, architecture, design, and writing. The college offers bachelor of architecture, bachelor of arts, bachelor of fine arts, master of architecture, master of arts, master of fine arts, and master of business administration degrees. With campuses in San Francisco and Oakland, CCA currently enrolls 1,740 full-time students. Noted alumni include the painters Nathan Oliveira and Raymond Saunders; the ceramicists Robert Arneson, Viola Frey, and Peter Voulkos; the filmmaker Wayne Wang; the conceptual artists David Ireland and Dennis Oppenheim; and the designers Lucille Tenazas and Michael Vanderbyl. For more information about CCA, visit www.cca.edu.