Saturday night saw the Art Institute of Portland's 12th annual fashion show featuring senior collections and a food-themed act in partnership with their culinary school. The show easily filled bleacher-style stadium seating at the convention center, a testament to the growth & strength of the program. The evening program was quite the marathon, but with a really strong finish, namely the senior collections which I must say were the strongest in recent years. Many of this year's graduating seniors really showed ambitious designs, and not in a haphazard, forget-about-ever-wearing-this-on-the-street kind of way... daring and unleashed for the runway, but thoughtful in terms of fashion and cohesiveness. Many of the evening's collections featured not only ambitious designs, but a beautiful combination of fabrics that were shown off in just the right ways. At a distance of course and with a few obvious exceptions, construction seemed stepped-up this year as well. This was really one heck of a graduating class of design students. Some of my favorites of the evening included complex layering, architectural flares, delicate asymmetries, small-scale detailing, and cut-outs that can easily make for funny-fabric behavior if not counter-balanced in some pretty sophisticated ways, all pulled off with considerable aplomb. Straight-up... it was quite a demonstration.
Designer Megan McGugan's collection of "Aviator" styles made me think of those old black & white photos from the 40's that have chemically aged into a brown hue. Selections included a woman's bomber jacket with great details and tailoring. A favorite of mine was a zip-down-front, cream sweater with a great fit, and again with thoughtful details that included a series of diagonal seams on the backside. I love it when a designer gives as much thought to how her garments look going as they do coming. Sudan Price's collection was a great set, and included one of my favorite ensembles of the evening, a brown pant & orange-top combination. The pant included a cut-out that shaped the orange top with an elegant pop. Price commented, "The cut-out idea came from wanting to combine the past trend of a lowered/dropped waist, to the newer trend of a higher waist. Below the cut-out, I created a mini pleat detail which added room through the hips allowing the pants more fluidity in movement when the model walked." Quite. The flaps created in the pant by the cut-out can easily become awkwardly moving objects with minds of their own without this kind of design & construction forethought, and I consciously appreciated it as I watched it move down the runway.
Jasin Weiner's "Pale Rider" was another pleasure that evening. Perhaps my appreciation can be summed up best by saying that Sergio Leone, Clint Eastwood, Don Quixote, and Mad Max would all be proud of this collection. It was one of several very thematic and conceptual looks that were delivered successfully without being cartoonish. Weiner was a crowd favorite that evening as well, and reported after the show, "It exceeded my expectations... I feel energized now to jump-start my career." Alex Gallatin stood out with one of the most cohesive and elegant collections, which included some of the night's true architectural touches. Thoughtfully placed ribbed panels combined with structurally flared shoulders, created an elegant, futuristic, but eminently wearable set of garments. Gallatin remarks, "The concept behind the collection was inspired by 80's silhouettes and minimalist architecture. I really focused on necklines and shoulders to stand out in an architectural way." The neutral, unicolor tones in grays & blacks forced Gallatin to make elegant shape and design features the centerpiece of her work, and I think she really delivered. Looking forward to seeing Alex in the future.
Etain Wilday made everyone smile with what struck me as an imaginative cross between Charles Dickens and the Mad Hatter. Knee and calf-length, high-waisted pants with suspenders and high-hemmed blazers were combined with the most wonderful top hats, each complete with a set of what looked almost like old-fashioned open-air cockpit flight goggles riding on the brim. I was again struck by the more tailored fits this year, and Wilday's looks, while deliberately whimsical, looked smart, and sharp. There were a few other selections from various collections that I particularly liked: some sophisticated drop-crotch pants with pelt-like tops & rough-edged hoodies from Melissa Gaynor, a black leather jacket by Cora Lee Poole, waist-length in front with hip-length panels onside and a golden yellow liner, some well-fit swim (almost resort) wear from Michaela Munteanu, a Catwoman-meets-schoolgirl look from Eddie Shander's "Medieval Punk" collection that made perfect use of model Alyssa Tibbs muscular physique, and frankly many more as well.
All in all, I thought the show spoke loudly about both the talent of the students that Ai is turning out, and of the faculty in every department involved. Fashion design Department Chair Sue Bonde, in typical elbow-grease manner, could be seen doing everything from strategic mingling, emceeing alongside Ai Culinary School Executive Chef Ken Rubin, to being crouched on her knees on a concrete floor by top-of-runway during the designer finale, making sure the high-heeled ladies had a hand down off the riser. Fashion Event Production Instructor and show producer Eden Dawn Killen summed up the evening, ""We're constantly working as faculty for ways to push our seniors to new lengths and higher success. I think that drive is reflected in the stunning collections shown this year."
VIDEO BY GREG DAY
For more info: Art Institute of Portland, Onscreen Imaging, Brendan Patrick Coughlin Photography, Video by Greg Day
Comments
Jasin Weiner's "Pale Rider" is definitely an inspiring collection. It reminded me a bit of the styling used in Star Wars. The layering and textures combined for some very interesting outfits.
This was undoubtedly a very strong class of senior student designers. I can't wait to see what comes after graduating from this group of obviously talented designers!
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