The Wearable Art Show and the NSCAD senior students’ end-of-term fashion show are combining and getting a new identity this year—thanks to the input of NSCAD design students.
NSCAD textiles/fashion students joined forces with NSCAD design students to develop a new name — “Runaway” — for the two annual shows, which for the first time will take place on the same day.
“I think the combination show is a really great opportunity to show the community and industry the different types of work that is done at NSCAD — the craftsmanship of the fashion show contrasted with the more crazy and fun wearable art show work,” said Katrina Craig, a student organizer.
Runaway will be presented on Sunday, April 21 at the Spatz Theatre (in Citadel High School), 1855 Trollope St., Halifax. The student fashion show starts at 6:30 p.m. and the wearable art show at 8:30 p.m.
“This project was a good teaching tool, because the students got real feedback on a project that wasn’t theoretical—the posters, tickets and programs will actually get produced,” said May Chung, NSCAD design professor.
Students in Prof. Chung’s third-year class (DSGN 3521) were tasked to conduct research and brainstorm visual concepts for the two combined shows and to come up with the name. Finalists included Stephanie McVicar, Janelle LaMothe and Lesley Steffler; Stephanie’s designs for the posters, tickets and programs were selected.
It’s been a great learning experience all round. Textile/fashion students Katrina Craig, Elliot Mussett and Janelle Brown are busy attending to the myriad of details that go into the planning of a fashion show and corralling dozens of student designers, models and volunteers in the process. Professors Robin Muller and Gary Markle are the faculty advisors for Runaway.
“Getting to plan the Wearable Art Show is an excellent opportunity for us as students to get a first-hand experience in the inner workings of a fashion show,” said Janelle Brown. “This project is providing us all with the experience to kick start our careers.”
Proceeds for Runaway go to the AIDS Coalition of Nova Scotia and a student scholarship fund at NSCAD.
If you go:
WHAT: Runaway is a combined show including the student fashion show and the wearable art show.
WHEN: The student fashion show starts at 6:30 p.m., the wearable art show at 8:30 p.m.
WHERE: Spatz Theatre (in Citadel High School), 1855 Trollope St., Halifax.
HOW MUCH: Tickets are $15 for the fashion show ($10 for students), $20 for the wearable art show ($15 for students) and $30 for both.
Poster designs by the finalists
Stephanie McVicar: “This project was great a great challenge, and a great experience to try to create something graphically that was interesting and reflective of the unique craftsmanship of the fashion and textiles department,” she writes. “I went through a lot (I mean a lot!) of trial and error to come up with a solution for them. It was nice to be able to play with yarn, learn how to knit (kind of) and take some fun photos and just be playful with the whole project.”
Janelle LaMothe: “I felt this assignment was very good experience that replicated the kind of scenarios that would be happening in our future design careers. Some of the challenges were that there were multiple subjective opinions that we had to work with from the fashion/textiles clients and, because there were so many designers, clients and instructors together, it was hard to organize and communicate to everyone. In the end however, it was very rewarding because we really pushed ourselves towards a strong concept and I think the whole class had good results. I also now have a strong piece to add to my portfolio and going through the often painful process has really taught me a lot.”