Fashion Week Fall 2010 – A Brief Return

On September 10th a couple weeks ago, I headed straight from class down to the Indianapolis International Airport to catch my flight to New York City. Upon accepting my internship offer at Cynthia Rowley this summer, I agreed to make myself available to work during our runway show this fall. The descent in proved very surreal, for after spending a whole year there only to return to Indiana still had me in culture shock – so this trip was like returning home, really. To save money, instead of taking a cab I took a bus to the subway; from that point on I felt as if I’d never left.
I arrived down at Heather Duge’s place in the financial district (Heather is a former Purdue Apparel Tech student,) and called the design office, expecting to be called in to work for last minute hand-stitching. To my surprise, I was not needed. Amy Morris (a fellow Apparel Tech student) and I decided to take advantage of this free opportunity and enjoy Fashion’s Night Out, an annual event to promote the fashion industry and raise funds for the September 11 Memorial Fund. In a nutshell, we hit up Fifth Avenue, Herald Square, and Soho, in the process meeting Jessica Stam (pictured), Paige Adams-Gellar of Paige Denim, and the band members of Carolina Liar. It was an exciting, memorable evening.
Onto the fashion, though. Cynthia Rowley’s show was scheduled to go off at 11 AM on September 11, 2010. I arrived at Lincoln Center at 9:30 to assist with set up. The venue was massive – a large entrance with the “Mercedes Benz Fashion Week” sign faced an open concrete square complimented by a fountain and a small park with benches. I made my way around to the back and found our appropriate tent, obtained my pass, and worked my way to where the models were getting hair and make-up done. Everything ran very smoothly, about fifteen minutes behind, but no disasters occurred. I fell in love with the models’ poppy red lips and enlarged barrettes clipped in their hair. A volunteer and I were assigned to the very first model (pictured-putting socks on). She only had one change, so the only difficulty was making sure makeup didn’t get on the garments – we used a silk cloth over her head to manage this. Unfortunately there were a few minor scares backstage. The model next to us couldn’t get her zipper up, and once we helped and succeeded, it separated. Hand tacking and strategic walking saved this on her and a couple other models. Other than that, the show was a huge success.

It all happened very quickly, lasting only a quarter of an hour. All the months and hours of preparation into fifteen minutes. But entirely worth it. The world now gets to view the collection, become inspired, and appreciate truly artistic design.

I spent the last day and a half sourcing fabric for my senior collection, in the process meeting and conversing with Valerie Mayen from this season’s Project Runway. As I toted my bags of fabric down the streets of Manhattan on Sunday afternoon, the light rain had cleared leaving slightly overcast skies visible through the rooftops. I stopped for a bit in Chelsea district and visited my favorite cupcake place, Billy’s. As I walked, I soaked it in, reminisced, then fished my Metrocard out, sighed, and descended towards the subway. New York is a stressful, yet wonderful whirlwind, and though I craved to just go sit along the Hudson one more time, I knew I had a true home to return to. Space to create my collection and valued relationships with others – that can’t be beat.

Ashley

A Day in the Life from F.I.T.

Hey guys! I actually have a semi-free night for once, so I thought I’d type a little bit up about my experiences here so far in the city.

The other week I found out that 8 million people alone live on this island. And since I run a lot, I’ve found out that the island itself is really only about 12 miles by 2.5 miles, give or take. Somehow, this seemingly hectic area is managed through structure, routine, and tall buildings. There really is so much to see and do here in this small area of Manhattan, and although I’ve been here almost three months, I still have a list of places I want to go to. I’ve been fortunate to be able to give myself about a day a week to explore though, which transitions into the FIT part of this entry.

Before I came here everyone basically said, “Oh my gosh, it’s going to be so hard and you’re going to have no life.” Unfortunately, for the main part it is true. However haha – it’s really just time management. Nothing we have done so far is insanely difficult, for a lot of the first semester is review of what I’ve already learned at Purdue, except they expound on it and multiply it. For instance, basic draping is taken a step further. We learn every method of basic draping and then have to do a creative version of it. I have only made two complete garments, the rest are half muslins; but, we all have term projects that will be multiple garments per outfit. Stressful, but exciting!That last phrase basically sums up everything – I’ve had spare time to do a couple contests, go to free yoga once a week, join a small group, work out every day, and see the city – all on top of homework. Sometimes it is a lot to handle, but after last year at Purdue and my internship this summer, it’s a little easier. Plus, there really is nothing else to do here aside from school during the week, unless you want to eat out and see a show every night.

Overall my experience here has been one of growth, both educationally and individually. It’s been quite an adjustment, for I haven’t visited home at all. Luckily I’ve made good friends with my roommates, girls in the one-year program, and another girl from Purdue here for retail. I also have family in mid-New Jersey that I visit about once a month. The more I’m here, the more I get used to it. Some things I don’t think I’ll ever get used to though– like being able to jog out to the end of a pier, stretch, and see the Statue of Liberty and the New Jersey skyline. The opportunities here are endless, and somewhat surreal. For instance, we went to Fashion’s Night Out on September 10 and saw Manolo Blahnik, Roberto Cavalli, Grace Coddington, Zac Posen, Laura Bennett, and Miss J from Project Runway. My professors are all extremely knowledgeable and always helpful, and I have learned such a great amount in such a small time period. I’m very grateful that I’m able to be here and could not be more excited for what’s to come. I can’t wait to come home on December 22, visit family and friends, drive, and yes, see farmland haha. That’s the one thing lacking out here – nature. I heard about Lady Gaga coming and had someone get me tickets. Luckily we’re off for six weeks for winterim at F.I.T. so I’ll get to visit Purdue as well. To fellow ambassadors and friends/faculty at Purdue – good luck as the semester comes to a close with final projects and exams! I hope everyone’s doing well!
                    Ashley

"That Girl" part 1.

Statue of Liberty

Hey! Welcome prospective students and new ambassadors! I’m Ashley, and I am currently in my third year of studies as a Fashion Design major. This year I traveled to New York City to attend the Fashion Institute of Technology for their one year Design AAS degree program. For those who are unfamiliar with this program – Purdue lets you take courses at FIT that transfer to third yr equivalent classes at Purdue, obtain an Associate’s from FIT, and then return your senior year to finish your Bachelor’s requirements.

Manhattan skyline from Jersey

After taking May-mester courses and an internship in Indianapolis this summer, I adjusted to being displaced and living independently, so the move went very well. I am currently living with 3 freshmen, all in different majors here at FIT, in an apartment-style dorm: we have two bedrooms, one bath, and a kitchen/dining area. I previously thought the space would be significantly smaller than normal, since it is in fact NYC, but it’s actually larger than I expected! I will post pictures once we purchase everything we need for the apartment and get it cleaned up a bit.

Night in the city from atop the Empire State Building

We’ve had a week of orientation activities full of things to do and sights to see around the city. My parents, who have never toured NYC, stayed until Wednesday, and we visited sites as far north as Central Park and the Trump Tower in Uptown to the Financial District in Downtown. [Shown is a view from the top of the Empire State Building.] Tomorrow a couple of girls and I are headed to Brooklyn to find a Target, see some boutiques, and get some really good pizza.

Times Square

Classes begin on Monday and I’m preparing myself for no life haha. But I’m going to love it, that I’m for sure of. I’ve signed up for Fashion Week and have purchased a couple of concert tickets, so I plan on still enjoying what the city has to offer alongside working non-stop.

The Fashion District

I’ll try and blog as much as possible. In the meantime, I hope everyone back at Purdue has a great fall semester. I’ll miss all the tailgating and games on Saturdays – Go Boilers!!

My Summer as an Intern

I am currently sitting outside, enjoying the weather that FINALLY feels like it’s the middle of July. I just drove up back home to Elkhart after concluding my internship with Anthropologie at the Keystone Fashion Mall in Indianapolis last Saturday. For those who don’t know, Apparel Design majors are required to have two internships prior to graduation – one retail for at least 140 hours and one design for at least 280 hours. I decided to do my retail internship this summer.

When applying I set my goals high, and applied at BCBG corporate in NYC, Gucci in Costa Mesa, Orange County, CA, and called multiple other stores including Burberry, Banana Republic, and Nordstrom. Unfortunately, I could not find housing in NYC for the summer, Gucci decided to take local students from FDIM, and the others weren’t offering internships. Around March of this year I was still trying to apply at local boutiques back here in South Bend and Mishawaka when I looked up stores located at the Fashion Mall. To my pleasant surprise, Anthropologie was listed. [You may be more familiar with Anthro’s parent company: Urban Outfitters --- U.O. has three sub-companies: Anthropologie, Free People, and Terrain.] I called them and BCBG both. Though BCBG wasn’t offering any store internships, Anthropologie told me to submit a resume and follow up in a week. Long story short…I got the internship!

I also knew a lot of friends from school who lived near Indy, and I ended up staying with a friend who’s also an Apparel Design major—Natasha—in Zionsville (her driveway view is the picture above). I drove about 20 min to work each day, which was on the North side of Indy close to Carmel, and I was able to visit downtown Indy, Brownsburg, Avon, Danville, and Purdue with ease. On weeks where I only worked a couple days, I also visited home, which was only a 2 ½ hour drive. To many this seems like a long time haha but I got used to driving so often, anything under an hour is nothing really now.

My internship with Anthropologie was absolutely wonderful. The first two days I worked, the entire staff showed up at 6 AM to do their yearly stock of inventory to account for losses. Loss prevention is unfortunately now a major deal with multiple retail organizations due to rises in theft, mostly attributed to the economy. During the rest of my month and a half there, I worked part time, paid, with weekly hours ranging from 10 to 32. (Hours and schedules for internship hours vary between companies–with Anthropologie I was treated like a regular retail associate.) Dress was very unrestricted, aside from no shorts, no logos aside from Anthro’s brands, and no flip flops–other than that it was just expected you dressed well and in a way that reflected the lifestyle of an Anthro girl. I was trained on inventory, censoring, re-stock in the mornings, fitting room service, loss prevention, customer care, retail procedures such as floor management and upkeep, and closing procedures in the evening.

I believe the best part of the internship came from the atmosphere. Anthropologie’s overall aims and mission as a company fit so well with my individuality and the general direction I wish to go with my career as a designer. For inspiration, corporate sends each retail outlet an “inspiration board” with themes the store is trying to represent for the season. Artistic freedom with retail display is then up to each outlet. We have five major departments: women’s apparel, women’s accessories, home, bedding, and lounge. Other sections include general green (a section geared toward environmentally-focused living,) children’s books/animals/learning objects, and multiple books throughout the store with themes ranging from recipes to the history of Valentino. I should also mention we as employees had quite a good discount, so it was all I could do to tell myself I needed to save for school haha. Of course, I did take advantage of it, though.

My co-workers were all very amiable and took the time to get to know me, while still maintaining professional attitudes. I found that one employee and two managers also had graduated from Purdue; the managers had obtained degrees in retail management. Many of my co-workers and I shared similar interests, including art, design (2 had majored in fashion design), fashion, and Starbucks haha. On the Starbucks note, during one week we had a contest for someone to win a Starbucks gift card. Whenever you added on items to a fitting room, signed someone up to for an Anthro card, etc, you put your name on a piece of paper which was then put into a drawing. I ended up winning, oddly enough, and plan on saving that card for when school commences again. :) Now I am good friends with many of them, and we’re all planning on staying in touch via good-old Facebook.

The only hard thing about my internship was the distance from home. I usually okay with my independence, but since I’m leaving for New York City in a little under 4 weeks and having been away earlier this summer for Maymester classes, I missed out on a lot of things with my friends and family back home. I did get to meet up with a friend here, and a friend there, but it was definitely a test. I grew a lot this summer, including both educational and life lessons learned from my internship. I look forward to spending the rest of my summer with friends and family back here in Elkhart, and one last stop at Purdue :) before I leave for FIT.

I’ll try and do a few posts when I can in NYC. In the meantime, I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their summer! And good luck to all the new freshmen as you embark on this journey known as college.

Oh! Ha and a plug for Anthro – if you’re interested more about Anthropologie, visit http://www.anthropologie.com/.

The burgers are calling me to grill them, so I’m gonna peace out.
*ashley

Pop Art

My most recent project for my A&D 106 class required that we create something out of Red Bull/Pop cans. Those who decided to do their entire project out of Red Bull cans had the option of entering their work into a contest. If selected, their work would be shown in an exhibition for the company. I believe last year this was in Texas. [However, if entered, they would not get their artwork back.]

Personally I don’t drink a lot of Red Bull, nor do I know many that do, so I went the pop can route. I asked around and ended up with 2 garbage bags full of pop cans. Little did I know that I would need all of them.

I decided to make a dress out of the cans. At first I wanted it to look extremely futuristic but then a huge factor came into play: time. I had a week to make it. So I set off, making a strapless black dress [including a lining and invisible zipper] and punching out rounded rectangles with a tool I purchased at Hobby Lobby. In order to punch these shapes out, the can itself must first be deconstructed. Hence, I had to cut the top and bottom off every can in order to have a cylinder, that once slit, became a rectangle fit for puncturing.
I’m not sure how many shapes I punched, but it was about 90 cans with 4-5 punches per can. So a lot haha. And I used every single one. I was going to try and make a graphic motif but time deemed that impossible so I tried to incorporate more design into the dress by making the upper bodice all silver [the backside of the aluminum] and from the waist down a rainbow gradient, with the amount of shapes diminishing and fading as they reached the hem. At the hem I put a row of the rounded domes at the end of the cans, which contrasted nicely against the black fabric. The picture shown is the dress without anything glued on yet.

Attaching these proved interesting. Primarily I didn’t know what type of glue to use, so I asked a salesperson at home depot and they gave me caulking glue. Due to my lack of construction knowledge, I didn’t purchase a caulking gun, and when I tried to open the glue, I couldn’t squeeze it, ended up getting on Facebook chat around 1 AM, and my guy friend at IU told me what the problem was. The next day I bought 3 tubes of super glue and prayed it would work. It did! I got it all over my hands but it turned out swell.

For extra credit we could make a video of our creation in action so I decided to do a music video. The only video I could think of with the word “pop” in it was “Pop, Lock & Drop It” by Huey. This was also quite interesting, for I decided to go around campus in my get-up asking random people to do “pop, lock & drop it” or sing lyrics for me. Needless to say, I only got one random person to assist; the rest were my friends. And luckily I got a few pointers about editing videos from a future ambassador and fellow Apparel Tech major, Alysha Kupferer. Here is the youtube link if you would like to check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BA8dIrM2jDw

After the video concluded I decided to add pop tab straps to it and a big red pop tab on the surface of the zipper on the back for an extra touch. Overall I loved this project! This class mainly focuses on expanding your design into construction and planning processes, for it is all 3-D art. Challenging, but interesting.

I hope everyone’s getting a chance to enjoy this wonderful weather! I’ll blog some more after dead week! :)

Ashley

Purdue Fashion Show 2009

Hi! I’m currently a sophomore in Apparel Design here at Purdue and loving it more every day! Above is a picture taken this weekend between the two fashion shows – my sister, Lauren (left), my great friend and model, Heather (middle), and myself (right). Before we get to the show details I’ll give a little background about AD&T here at Purdue.

Our major houses anywhere from 11-30 or so per grade, so it’s a really tight-knit group of designers/friends/peers here on campus. My primary year here I took general education courses and about 2 major related classes each semester. This year I experienced the same trend first semester but this spring my week entails of the following:

MWF: A&D 106 [Design II; Art], CSR 209 [Intro to Retail Management], CSR 327 [History of Fashion] TTh: CSR 221 [Apparel Design II], CSR 255 [Apparel Showcase – Fashion Show Production], BAND 117 [flute]

All classes contain challenging course requirements; however I have grown tremendously this semester as a student and a designer. I look forward to continuing my development in this field at the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC next year, and simply cannot wait until senior year when I get to work on my senior collection! So…on that note, on to details concerning the fashion show last weekend!

As most in CFS know, the Apparel Design and Technology/ Purdue Fashion Association Fashion Show was held this past Saturday in the Shively Room of the Ross-Ade press box. We had two shows, one at 1:00 PM and the other at 8:00 PM, along with an art gallery located 2 floors above. Our crowds were quite full this year; we even sold out at the night show. Overall the show proved very successful and showcased all of our hard work for others to see.

I’ll give you a glimpse into how the show works:
We do have a course specifically allotted for the preparation and production of this major event (CSR 255). Between the 100 or so of us we divide into separate groups, including Promotions, Model Management, Music and Visuals, Design and Dressers, Hair and Makeup, etc. This year I was on the Design and Dressers team and we handled the organization of what individuals were putting into the show, making sure garments were getting completed with multiple checkpoints, examining clothes for construction analysis, and handling the transport and arrangement of all the garments from our sewing lab to Shively and into the dressing areas.

For the show, each level has a requirement.
Freshmen must submit either a piece into the art gallery or an outfit on the runway.

Sophomores and Juniors must send out at least two outfits on the runway, but they can do more if space/time allows if so desired.

I believe the Senior requirement was raised to 6 models this year. Again, this is just the minimum. All of the seniors produced impressive shows that showcased their skills and design technique well.

Featured photos include the outstanding collections of Anneliese Schaegler, Audrey Reiter, and Shelby Kreger.

This year I did both outfits outside of my class requirements. (Class requirements in CSR 221 this year for sophomores have required a sleeveless bodice, a personal pant sloper, a bifurcated garment, a garment with a collar and sleeves, a skirt, an accessory, and a Goodwill creative transfiguration project, all except the latter draped and patterned.)

For my first model, and friend since 4th grade, I made a black python pencil skirt, a butterfly twisted red satin top, and a knit cropped sweater. Inspiration for this design came from my consultation with Heather (model) – she stated she wanted something she could wear to work and out in the evening. We conflicted over the skirt material, but she conceded and I’m making here a zebra print skirt on the side.

My other model Maria, my roommate last year and good friend, wanted a glamorous dress with a tad of sex appeal. I channeled some of my inner Beyoncé [haha] and came up with this draped design with the attachment of antique jeweled brooches at the straps. As you can see we had a random, fun photo shoot after the night show.
I’ll be honest, due to other class projects, including a lengthy paper, two art projects, and sewing assignments, I spent basically all of my free time in the sewing lab since spring break. I even pulled two all-nighters last week. Probably not healthy, but I accomplished everything and when dress rehearsal rolled around, we dragged our weary bodies up to Ross-Ade, craving sleep, but once our models hit the runway, we just all got so excited. We even ordered a pizza.

I’m so excited for everyone in our major; all of the designers here are talented in their own unique way. Although I broke down more than twice last week, went broke ordering food to eat on campus, and consumed way too much caffeine, in some odd way it was worth it. I achieved more than I ever thought I could have last year.

I came to Purdue with a strong background in art studies; however, I had only sewn a pillow and a skirt in my entire life, one in junior high. It was quite daunting, but now I feel I have grown so much and look forward to further developing my skills. I’m hoping to do my retail internship and the Keystone Mall in Indianapolis this summer or back home at a large mall near South Bend, Indiana. Then I will take off for a year in New York.

I will certainly miss everyone, campus, the fashion show, my lovely professors Susan and Nancy, and the comforts of my apartment, but I know it will be an experience unmatched by any other.

If anyone ever has any questions feel free to shoot me an e-mail at hardya@purdue.edu.
I hope you all have a wonderful Easter, and as we say, “happy sewing!”
*Ashley