As the semester begins to wrap up, seven of Kirkwood Community College’s apparel merchandising and design students are working in anticipation to bring two semesters’ worth of work to the runway.
The Kirkwood Fashion Show: Cumuluxe will run from 5-8 p.m. on April 26 at Ballantyne Auditorium.
On the runway, attendees will see many ensembles coordinated and designed by students, but there’s a lot more to the show than what attendees see on stage. Behind the scenes, students have been working tirelessly to put this production together: designing ensembles, developing connections and collaborating with both local boutiques and major retailers such as Target, Walmart, Scheels and Dillards.
“People don’t realize a lot of the behind the scenes work that we have to do. A lot of these are not things that we’re just given,” said Summer Franck, director and merchandising and financial coordinator. “We have to go and do our own work and recruit retailer, recruit our own sponsors and find our own people, so there’s a lot of behind-the-scenes things that we really are starting 100% from scratch,” .
Jonathan Carrick, exhibition coordinator and co-events coordinator, said people don’t understand how much time and money goes into planning an event like this.
“All of our student section is created and designed by students here, so start-to-finish garment construction is done by us; all the items in the exhibition are created by us,” he said.
Travell Wright, promotions coordinator, co-staging coordinator and lead fashion stylist, agreed with Carrick.
“Every time you see something like a promotion or advertisement, the stage design or the music or, the lighting or the things the people are wearing, somebody was in charge of them; it was somebody’s job to do that,” he said.
Wright also wrote the music for the show.
Despite the stressful preparation and the many sleepless nights these students have spent preparing for the show, they see it not only as an opportunity to showcase their designs and build their portfolios but also as a learning experience.
Emma Acton, beauty coordinator and model, said the fashion show provided her with experience in production and collaborating with retailers and models, helping her prepare for her future career as a fashion designer.
Similarly, Delaney Pasleer, co-exhibition and co-lead fashion stylist, found that the fashion show gives her more knowledge about the process of production.
Zari Ambundo, events coordinator and co-exhibitionist, found that the process of planning the event has improved her communication skills and shown her how to better manage deadlines.
Gabriella Rippel, director, staging coordinator and model coordinator, commented about preparing for the fashion show.
“This program in general has pushed me to my limits, to limits I didn’t know I had,” she said. “Putting a show together and working in a team is really hard cause you have to know how to lead, but also how to hear everyone and how to step back when it’s not your turn. It’s taught me a lot about leadership and taught me a lot about teamwork and perseverance.”
The fashion show will bring to the runway the hard work, talent and creativity of Kirkwood’s apparel merchandising and design students, showcasing not only their ensembles but also their skills in coordination, direction and networking among other valuable skills that will prepare them for the future.
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