With the absence of the normal fashion scene during Los Angeles Fashion Week it is refreshing to see that the fashion majors at Cal State Long Beach are still going strong and will be putting on the 21st Campus Couture fashion show Wednesday.
Every year it seems the show gets better and better, and Wednesday at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center will be no different.
“We learn form what last years coordinators have told us,” said Tyler Rodriguez, Campus Couture public relations coordinator. “So from that we’ve created new ideas and kind of put a different spin on it. We feel like we’ve really done a good job this year. I think it’s going to be an awesome show.”
Event-goers should expect to see a variety of garments from juniors and seniors. Junior designers have the opportunity to design a shirt and jacket, while the senior designers will have a little more freedom to create multiple pieces. This is because the show is primarily for the senior designers to showcase garments they have made throughout the semester.
“The show is segmented into the different classes the students have to take,” Rodriguez said. “For example, there’s a class called computerized flat pattern, there’s a draping class. Each student that’s in that class will show the garments that they made for that class.”
Audience members will be able to identify which classes the garments were produced for if they take a peak at a monitor that will be playing throughout the show.
Although the students have to follow guidelines in the classroom, they have complete creative control over their designs.
“For the most part the design students sketch out anything they like and what they want to make,” Rodriguez said. “So everyone’s design is different and [professors] don’t try to steer anyone’s creativity in a certain way. They support everyone’s creativity and expand their abilities through their own inspirations. All the students have different inspirations and styles so they just try to make it blossom.”
Because of its enormity, this event is quite expensive to put on.
Throughout the year there have been numerous fundraisers including garage sales, charity events at local restaurants and help from students enrolled in the Fashion Promotion and Sales class and members of the Students in Fashion club.
All of the hours put into designing the garments, raising money and producing the show will not be in vain. The designers are doing more than putting their visions on the catwalk ⎯ they are positively setting themselves up for recognition by scouts. In addition to recognition from scouts, several awards will be presented at the end of the show. A few of these awards include best in show, best marketable and most innovative.
“Personally, I think this show is the best thing I’ve done in college,” Rodriguez said. “We’ve done a really good job so far, I think. It looks like it’s going to be a really solid show.”