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’s 10th annual runway show.
“It’s a terrific landmark,” wrote Sasha Pinto ’21, president of Fashion@Brown, in an email to The Herald. The show has been a “labor of love” for everyone involved as a celebration of the success and history of the organization.
“Each collection tells a story,” she wrote. “Brown students are immensely creative with a myriad of interests (and) … our designers are the true embodiment of this sentiment.”
“I thought it was really great,” said Glory Lee ’24. “With each collection I could tell how much students put their history, their culture into their work.”
Directors of Design Lynn Hlaing ’21, Sebastian Immonen ’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’s show has been “the biggest and best show there is so far,” Hlaing said. He noted that there were “more designers than previous years.”
According to Hope, there was no specific theme for the runway – apart from a general celebration of the 10th anniversary – in order to allow the designers as much creative freedom as possible. “We decided against choosing one theme because everyone had such wildly different interests,” she said.
In addition to the variety of artistic visions, Hlaing said, there was “such a diverse range … of experience” among designers. “It definitely makes for a more interesting and cool adventure,” he continued. “Everyone’s bouncing creativity off of each other.”
“It’s really fun to see the concepts develop differently among every designer. Everyone’s pulling from either heritage or memory or aesthetic and the way they’re developing that concept … and finally putting it into their looks is so exciting,” 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’s 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 ’23, who has designed two prior collections, remarked on the particularly collaborative nature of this year’s design process. “I’m used to pulling all-nighters sewing, but not with other people. It was kind of weird creating together in the studio, but it’s been pretty good.”
“It’s crazy to see how other students are out here making clothes, and just creating things,” said Jenya Kirsch-Posner ’23. Kyran Flynn ’23 reflected a similar sense of amazement. “I came because I knew some of the models,” he said. “I didn’t expect to like it as much as I did.”
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.
“We make sure everyone knows where they’re supposed to be and when they’re supposed to be there,” said Sapphire Faruque ’22, one of the Events Directors.“We’re in charge of setting up … (and) making sure it runs.”
Madison Hough ’22, also an Events Director, mentioned how managing the show involved “a lot of moving pieces.”
“We’re trying to make it more a celebration of the designers,” she said, adding that “there’s been a lot more involvement with other teams.”
“Every year the shows will keep getting better and better,” Hope said. “I’m excited (to see) where we can grow and continue growing.
