The lights dropped, spotlights turned up and the French-techno music blared as student models strutted their stuff down the runway.
Within the midst of New York fashion week, BYU engaged in a fashion show all their own; the first ever show of its’ kind. The BYU-SA Cutting Fashion Show, which happened on Saturday, Feb. 9, displayed a wide range of styles from twelve student designers.
But before the show could officially get started, BYU alumnus and designer Tommaso Cardullo shared some prerecorded words of advice.
“My greatest advice is to go after your passions,” Cardullo said.
And go after their passions, they did. From making multiple outfits to styling each model just right, these designers had to plan what they wanted to portray to the audience.
Each designer produced a fashion line that was uniquely their own. From sequin skirts to classic little black dresses, designers showed what makes them unique.
Each line was distinct with different inspirations, but the latest in fashion was represented by many. Rampant on the runway were gold, sequins and zippers–plenty of zippers.
The show took time and hard work to organize, but in the end the designers accomplishments shone through.
Kärstin Lake, a senior studying music, was the director of the show. She had been working on setting up the show since last May, and on top of that, made a line of ten outfits.
“It takes me a really long time to design because I want everything to be perfect, so I’ll design and re-design,” Lake said.
While the various lines had certain cohesion about them in reflecting current trends as well as seemingly original designs, the designers each had different fashion backgrounds and reasons for making clothes.
Adeline Pichot, a BYU graduate having studied fashion in France, hopes to further develop her career in Europe. Although she wants to work with clothes and style, she does not want to focus on the fashion in the typical sense of the word.
“I’m not a big fan of fashion in that I don’t necessarily dress in the latest trends,” Pichot said.
Pichot doesn’t design in order to fit in. She has her problems with the fashion industry and chooses to design for the sake of the clothes.
“What I do not like in fashion is the psychology behind it,” Pichot said. “It tells people what to wear in order to feel integrated by society. I think that style is what matters most as long as it looks harmonious. People should be able to find their own style, the one that fits their personality best instead of being told what to wear so that everybody looks the same, and that if you don’t look like others then you must be out of place.”
While the typical fashion designer may feel differently about the world surrounding who and what makes the clothes people wear, Pichot exemplifies the typical hard-worker and plans to go far. Differences in opinion only seem to set her apart from the crowd.
“I believe that I will find a good job without struggling too much, not because I like the fashion world, but because I am gifted in what I do and because I have taken advantages of opportunities that were on my way,” Pichot said.
Despite the fact that these designers are not all studying fashion design, many hope to make it in the fashion industry. Surrounding the runway, hand-in-hand, models gave one last glimpse at The Cutting Fashion Show presented by BYU-SA that was sure to get the creative juices flowing in the minds of the audience members alike.
