The atmosphere was stitched with smiles and applause like the seams of the clothes worn at Absinthe House for the Seamless Fashion show on Saturday, April 28.
The Fashion Design Student Association held its once-a-semester fashion show to display the members’ work for the first time. It may have not been a Michael Kors production costing thousands of dollars, but it was a true display of student’s love for fashion and the hard work they put into their designs.
A model's silhouette in this file photo from 2010. (CU Independent File/Sara Fossum)
Each designer had his or her own unique collection and a student model for each of their pieces. Rose Barber, the president of FDSA, said she got the inspiration for her “summer thunderstorms” collection one day when sitting in a summer class. She began working on that collection over winter break. Saturday was the day that four months of work all came to fruition.
This was Barber’s fourth show, and she talked about the process for her collection building.
“Sometimes when I see a fabric, the piece will make itself,” Barber said.
The models certainly had their own challenge. Some were doing their first show and had to find ways to model their piece without showing too many nerves. Freshman and first-time model Olive Kelly, whose mother traveled from Austin to be in the audience, described the walk as “nerve-racking” and said when she was done, she was “excited that I didn’t fall or run.”
Modeling certainly was not the easiest job in the show, but some student models, like freshman Vasndth Rajaseker, were not too nervous. Rajaseker was part of the small population of male models at the show.
“The significance [of the male models in the show] is that guys can be in to fashion, too,” he said.
The show was successful in filling the bar. With no ticket fees, it attracted people of all ages, such as senior Megan Houghton.
“I came to help support friends and see a great show,” she said.
The show lasted just over an hour. With rock music and creativity flowing, designers kept the tempo of the event quick.
FDSA’s previous show, which took place in November, was on a larger scale, with models strutting up and down the Glenn Miller Ballroom. Saturday’s show had some of the same designers and models, such as sophomore Tracy Wanjiru, who said she modeled to support the designer, a friend of hers.
Fashion means something different to everyone. Fashion kept everyone in Absinthe connected to each other in one way or another, whether they were modeling on the catwalk or in the audience watching the show.
Barber plans on keeping fashion in her life in the future, even if it isn’t as a designer.
“It’s how you represent yourself to the world every day,” she said. “The human body is the most fluid thing of all, and figuring how to do art based on the human body is great.”
If you want to get more involved in FDSA email fashiondsa@gmail.com.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Chris Ayala at Christian.ayala@colorado.edu.
