Senior designers celebrate crowning collections in “Solstice”

As families made their way into Beasley Coliseum Friday, they entered with arms overflowing with bouquets and hearts overflowing with pride.

Backstage, excited chatter echoed from green rooms. The sound of makeup brushes clattering before makeup mirrors punctuated the din while the sound of garments removed from hangers and whispering onto bodies contributed to the soundtrack of palpable anticipation.

As collections ranging from all-black street wear to renaissance throwbacks hit the runway, cheers erupted and a gaggle of photographers lit each smiling face with their camera flashes. While models exuded cool, unwavering confidence on the runway, these students were hyping themselves up for their pilgrimage down the runway only hours before the show.

Olivia Lopez, first-year elementary education major; Jess Dickinson, fourth-year marketing major; Anna Linder, second-year apparel merchandising and business marketing major; and Olivia Dicker, second-year fashion merchandising major, were willing to walk through these nerves for their friend, senior designer Kiley Hill.

“My mindset is, ‘we’re here now, we have to do it,’ I just have to shake out the nerves,” Dickinson said.

Despite the nerves associated with the novelty of the modeling experience, they are supported by both the extensive model rehearsals and the clothes they have been assigned to model.

“[Hill] wants you to feel comfortable walking, comfortable in what you’re wearing and how your hair and your makeup looks,” Dicker said. “It’s not just the Kiley show. Yes, it is her collection, but she wants us to feel confident, which is so cool.”

“Rendezvous” is a playful, feminine collection meant to empower and strengthen individual women and foster friendship and sisterhood. The interchangeable satin sets of pastel pink and yellow were brilliantly cohesive, and the models interacted playfully with each other on the runway, giving the audience a glimpse of their real-life friendship and sisterhood.

“At first, we were like, ‘we just want to go and get it over with,’ but we definitely built a bond,” Linder said. “It’s going to be sad to not go to practices together. There are so many practices, we do so much preparing just for this one night, and then it’s going to be over.”

While volunteer models coped with the unfamiliar anxieties of the fashion industry, the same could not be said for senior designers Kamil Hall and Markus Sloan, who awaited the arrival of their families before showtime. Because judging had already taken place, these designers were simply excited to celebrate the end of their college careers of tireless work with their families.

“Obviously, it means a lot to them and to me. They have been so open and there was never any push back from them ever,” Sloan said. “For them to see my work finally and see how that translates, all my hard work comes to life, [and] I think they’ll really enjoy that.”

Kamil Hall’s collection, “Privé Hall,” is a multi-sensory experience. As the eye takes in the silhouettes, it also imagines the varied textures of each item, creating a feast for the senses.

“My collection is very monochrome, mostly black, and I try to simplify it, making it more minimal and trying to really match my competitors, Mason Margella and Balenciaga,” Hall said. “More of a minimal, toned down version of their aesthetic.”

At the end of a years-long journey through creative growth, technical education in garment construction and many late nights, Sloan and Hall looked forward to their final act as students blossoming into designers.

“I have family in the crowd who taught me how to sew, so I think that’s going to be very emotional,” Sloan said. “They’re thinking, you know, ‘I taught him,’ or, ‘I’ve helped influence him and taught him,’ compared to where I am now because I’ve grown so much and progressed in my skill since then.”

Sloan’s collection, “Blueprint,” was the Best in Show winner, and played with the contemporary fashion trend of work wear as street wear. Sloan’s cheekily constructed garments featured removable double-knee panels and an entirely Velcro jacket with interchangeable patches and pockets. “Blueprint” flawlessly synthesizes fashion, function and art, dissecting each element before puzzling them back together in a cohesive collection.

Hall reflected on the work of all 21 designers in their time at WSU as a cohort, acknowledging their individual and collective growth and transition into their professional careers.

“It’s really surreal because we’ve been with these guys for two and a half, three years, and when we first started sewing, all of us sucked, it was awful,” Hall said. “Now seeing everybody come together, it’s a really cool experience and just seeing all of our families here supporting us, it’s really special, a full circle moment.”

Most Marketable: Audree Frombach, “Vespertine”; Trace Baukulich, “Children of the Sun” Most Innovative: Britney Nguyen, “Heaven to the Abyss”…Read more by ELEANOR COLGAN