10:26 a.m., May 2, 2016--The University of Delaware’s first-ever Fashion Week will feature two major runway shows and opportunities to see new designs — many by UD students — along with a look back at historical clothing, a film showing and a project to make an old item new again.
Fashion Week kicks off with the 2016 Synergy Fashion Show at 7 p.m., Saturday, May 7, in UD’s Clayton Hall. Synergy Fashion Group, a student organization, produces the annual show of select design students’ work, which often draws an audience of about 500.
The show consists of three parts: Blank Canvas, a themed competition focused this year on designs inspired by menswear; Open Submission, showing work from students’ pattern drafting and draping classes in the Department of Fashion and Apparel Studies; and Senior Collections, featuring work from seniors’ capstone collections.
For more about Synergy and the fashion show, including ticket prices, visit this website.
After a break for Mother’s Day, Fashion Week events continue on Monday, May 9, with Main Street activities from 1-7 p.m.
Participating businesses — Caffe Gelato, Grass Roots, Heart and Home, Switch and the UD Barnes and Noble Bookstore — will offer giveaways and discounts to students who come into their stores, take a photo of their “fashion moment” and share it on social media.
Tuesday, May 10, will see “Mobile Upcycle” on the Perkins Student Center patio from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., where visitors can discover new and creative ways to upcycle old clothing and textile waste, and a T-shirt repurposing event at 4 p.m. in 310 Alison West, where participants can bring an old T-shirt and transform it.
Wednesday, May 11, from 7-9 p.m. in the Perkins Student Center West Lounge is the spring launch event for UDress Magazine, a student-run fashion publication. The launch will include a fashion show and reception; for more information, see the UDaily article.
On Thursday, May 12, from noon to 3 p.m., visitors can tour the Department of Fashion and Apparel Studies’ showcase on the second and third floors of Alison Hall West. Student designs as well as a display from the department’s Historic Costume Collection will be exhibited, and cookies will be served.
May 12 also will feature movie night, from 6:30-9:30 p.m. in 205 Kirkbride Hall, with a showing of The True Cost. Admission is free for students with ID.
Wrapping up Fashion Week on Friday, May 13, is the Perkins Marketplace, where customers can shop from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for unique, handcrafted items made by students, faculty members and nonprofit organizations.
The afternoon of May 13, Martha Hall will give a talk at 3 p.m. in the Science, Technology and Advanced Research (STAR) Campus atrium, “Thinking Outside the Box: Careers in Fashion Beyond the Runway.” An alumna of the fashion department, Hall will speak about her experiences as a functional design and wearable technology researcher.
Following her talk, at 4 p.m. in the atrium, children with special needs will model the garments created for them by members of UD’s Sew Baby Sew student club.
Organizers of UD Fashion Week include the Fashion Merchandising Club, the student chapter of AATCC (the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists), UDress and Synergy Fashion Group.
Article by Ann Manser
Photos by Wenbo Fan and Ambre Alexander Payne
