After a night of fashion and glamour, fifth-year retailing student Marisa Martin took first place at the fifth annual USC Student Designer Showcase.
The USC Student Designer Showcase was one of the many events that Fashion Board at USC hosted throughout the week. The event featured seven student designers who designed and created their pieces and selected their models. The designs ranged from evening wear, to casual dress, to a children’s line.
The designers created their pieces in hopes of impressing the panel of five judges, which included former USC alumna and 2013 Student Designer Showcase winner Molly McNutt.
The showcase provided designers with the experience of creating and preparing their pieces and working a fashion show. For third-year visual communications student Amelia Shuler, the showcase involved developing real-world skills.
“You learn a lot by designing. You learn how much work goes into actually making garments that look attractive, and also it's a learning experience as to sizing and stitching and stuff like that,” she said.
Before the show, audience members gathered around cocktail tables, enjoyed refreshments and walked between tables that featured student vendors who sold jewelry, dream catchers, needlework and other handcrafted items.
In the other room, designers, models, makeup artists and hair stylists bustled about, working on finishing touches. Designers made last-minute alterations on their models as fourth-year visual communications major and Fashion Board at USC President Morgan Holton gave a few final directions and announcements.
With this being the fifth year for the showcase, Holton and the executive team decided to revamp the show. The executive team focused on changing the showcase to be more interactive for everyone. One difference in the showcase was the judges doing a prejudging segment and then seeing the looks on the runway. This gave designers a chance to get feedback beforehand and work one-on-one with the judges themselves.
The showcase engaged students from both sides of the runway. The event featured student art and student vendors as well as a student musician and student models.
“The event itself is really exciting for students of all areas, so to speak ... and it's really important to give them that opportunity to shine,” Holton said of the showcase’s benefits for students.
With students creating, walking and helping for the runway, students created a large portion of the audience. They filled a wide range of roles, from designers and DJs to behind-the-scenes jobs such as ushers and assistants. Third-year retailing student Mackenzie Keaton worked as an usher backstage.
“It's almost like the real thing, like the real Fashion Week,” Keaton said about working backstage. “People want to be here to see that, because it’s their classmates and their friends doing it, so it’s personal and it’s fun like that.”
For fourth-year retail management major Novia Green and the other designers, the showcase allowed them to work on building their brand and sharing their passion for fashion with others.
“Fashion is art, it’s life, and it’s my passion. Fashion is part of my happiness," Green said. "I truly have a love for fashion and I love to be able to utilize my talents by creating innovative, original designs."