Runway 11: First Place Winner

With her amazing collection, congrats to senior designer Kimberly Granados. Her collection ‘Her Opulence’ was inspired by the freedom of dress women experienced during the Victorian Era. This is how her collection interconnected with this years runway theme Interconnect.

Meet Senior Designer: Alexis Davis

Meet one of our senior designers, Alexis Davis. For Runway 11 her collection Black Venus was inspired by Josephine Baker, an African American performer from the 1920’s who was admired for her confidence. She wore whatever she wanted or nothing at all. She was a strong believer in self-love and passion. Alexis collection was created to find the modern day “Josephine Baker”, women who are not ashamed of who they are. Her fabric allows the audience to see the bodies of her models. The glitter placed on to the fabric gives the illusion that the models are glowing. Black Venus is created to deliver a message to society, that not all women are shaped the same, and we have to be mindful of that. Alexis wants every woman to know it’s okay to be different and to accept each other instead of judging and denying.

Alexis has always been fascinated by garment construction, patterns, and unique ideas.  When she was younger, Alexis spent a lot of her time drawing her sister and her friends in cool outfits. In middle school, Alexis always dressed her uniform up in accessories and bright colored sweaters. She loved being the center of attention when it came to fashion and tried her best to be a trendsetter. Two summers before Alexis came to Buffalo State, she taught herself how to hand sew. Alexis spent her summer going to thrift shops, buying unique pieces and reconstruction them. Alexis couldn’t decide what she wanted to do with her future, but she always had a passion for clothes. Being a fashion design major is dream come true because it allows Alexis to learn the information she needs to create my own influence on the world.

When working on Black Venus, it was very difficult to find a solid idea of what Alexis wanted to create. Josephine Baker had so many famous outfits, but she didn’t want to replicate a garment or design off of someone else’s design. She tried her best-creating something Baker would’ve worn in the 1920’s but still is very fashionable for her own era. It was and still is difficult trying to explain my collection, without feeling like I either said too much or too little about Josephine. Black Venus is not about Baker but is heavily influenced by her.

Alexis has done many fashion shows in the past, but nothing like Runway. So many people, including herself, is 100% involved in making sure this show is way better than the last one. Everyone is so dedicated, and she is so excited to see how everything plays out. Her sister, best friend, and boyfriend will be attending the show and I’m so excited for them to see all the hard work she put into this collection.

Alexis is graduating May 2018, and is very excited about it! After school, Alexis plan on staying in Buffalo for one more year, to save money. During that time, she will continue to sell pieces and do fashion shows. Alexis wants to continue to gain the experience needed to survive in the fashion world.

Make sure you purchase your tickets at http://runway.buffalostate.edu/

Meet Senior Designer: Kimberly Granados

Meet one of our senior designers, Kimberly Granados. For Runway 11 her collection Her Opulence interconnects the elegance of the Victorian Era with today’s modern classic women who desire to get in touch with their feminine side. 

Growing up Kimberly would never let anyone dress her, little did she know that that was going to lead to something else later on in life. Kimberly remember buying her first Vogue in 2012 only because it had Lady Gaga on the cover. Through her music videos she discovered designers such as Alexander McQueen and Marc Jacobs. Kimberly was amazed by their work and wanted to know how it was possible to do such things. She had no artistic talents but Kimberly realized that it was okay to start from nothing and build her way up. As a shy and reserved person, she saw fashion design as another form of art and wanted to learn how to express herself through clothing.

The challenges Kimberly faced for Runway 11 was her vision coming to life was difficult. Designing this collection was something that came naturally to her but the hard part was constructing it. Kimberly came across problems that needed experimentation to be solved. These problems challenged her and pushed her to try again and again until the patterns were perfect, to ensure the best fit. Her excitement for Runway 11 is being able to share her collection with the audience and to see everything come together. Through this collection Kimberly is sharing a part of herself, and cannot wait to hear others interpretation of it.

Kimberly will be graduating this May and is planning on moving back home to Long Island. So far she is mostly interested in the digital side of fashion design and most likely will intern or work full time in NYC. Right after graduation she will be traveling to China, when Kimberly returns she plans to keep pushing herself to find out what she capable of doing.

Purchase your tickets at http://runway.buffalostate.edu/

Meet Senior Designer: Kimberly

Meet one of our senior designers, Jillian Sickler. The theme for her collection in Runway 11 is wedding dresses inspired by the forecast of common ground Spring/Summer 2019. The main concept of the trend is rediscovering your roots and seeking out things that connect us. Jillian collection is made with vintage and older style laces, paired with modern day silhouettes and fits. Using the inspiration of wildflowers and baby’s breath for a delicate lace look from the common ground. The dresses are traditional white with small pops of color and floral.

Watching Project Runway really inspired me to be creative and learn how to sew. Jillian taught herself how to make her own prom dress and other sewing crafts.  The biggest challenge she faced throughout the process was the amount of time and work it took to make the flowers. She will cut the fabric out, burned each petal, hand sewed them into flowers and sewed them onto each dress. The flower making process took more hours than she could keep track of.

She so excited to see her beautiful models wear the dresses and look radiant. Nothing makes Jillian happier than seeing her models/clients satisfied and impressed with her work!

Jillian will be graduating this May; She decided to make bridal for the fashion show to challenge herself and she hopes to open her very own custom bridal store over the next few years.

Make sure you purchase your tickets at http://runway.buffalostate.edu/

Senior Designer: Valeasha Collins

Meet one of our senior designers, Valeasha Collins. This year for interconnect her collection showcases activewear that has high- fashion details, to appear more elegant and dressy.

Becoming a fashion design major was an obvious choice to make. At 11 years old Valeasha had sparked an interest in designing Barbie clothes out of old clothing. She attempted to sell them to her neighbors in an apartment complex she lived in. Later on, she took initiative in learning how to sew and render fashion illustration her senior year of high school, which helped prepare Valeasha to build her fashion education here at Buffalo State.

The challenges Valeasha has faced for Runway 11 is finding a balance between school work, a part-time job, and having a personal life. She would have to look at her planner to make sure she was on top of everything. What she is excited about is being able to see all the work from her colleagues.

After this year at Buffalo State, Valeasha plans on working full-time while finding freelance work as a fashion designer. She also wants to start fulfilling some of her goals such as traveling to new places, volunteering, and learning new skills.

Purchase your tickets today: http://runway.buffalostate.edu/

 

RUNWAY 11 – JURY RESULTS

The Runway Team would like to say THANK YOU to everyone that submitted garments for Runway 11 – Interconnect. It was a fun and exciting day for our Fashion Department.

A special thank you to our jury:

Colleen Coughlin

Founder, The Full Edit

Zero Waste – Closet Editing Agency

Joan Fedyszyn

Women’s buyer, O’Connell’s

Allita Steward

Vintage Expert & Wardrobe Concierge, Allita Lee

Shantell Reid

Fashion Design and Merchandising Instructor, Villa Maria College

Congratulations to the following students and faculty who made it into Runway 11, which will be held on April 21, 2018 in the Buffalo State Social Hall!

 

Senior Designers

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24

Student Collection

27, 28, 29, 30, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46

Single Item

31, 32, 50, 51, 25, 26, 47, 53, 55, 57, 58

Get your tickets for Runway NOW at runway.buffalostate.edu!

*A special thank you to Seabar for hosting our jury dinner!

Runway 11: Interconnect

Runway 11: Interconnect

As we look to Spring 2019 future trends, we are faced with the challenge of creating balance. The idea of cause and effect, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Fashion evolves into creating solutions that result in new actions. Our Runway 11 theme “Interconnect,” is an instrument used to connect two things together. This is where community, curiosity, culture, and creativity meet, and open a dialogue for change.

Our inspiration is from WGSN Spring/Summer 2019 visions: Common Ground, In Touch, Creative Manifesto and Action/Reaction.

Purchase your tickets today: http://runway.buffalostate.edu/

Alumni Designer Spotlight: Diane Meyer

The theme for Runway 10 is Remember Imagine, which encourages everyone to look at the past and remember where we started, so we are able to look towards the future and what we can achieve. In the final days before the show, we will be looking back at some of our past Runway designers and see where they are now, what lessons Runway taught them, and how they have carried them through life. The last Alumni we will be spotlighting is Diane Meyer.

Alumni Designer Spotlight: Veronica Michalek

The theme for Runway 10 is Remember Imagine, which encourages everyone to look at the past and remember where we started, so we are able to look towards the future and what we can achieve. In the final days before the show, we will be looking back at some of our past Runway designers and see where they are now, what lessons Runway taught them, and how they have carried them through life. The next Alumni we will be spotlighting is Veronica Michalek.

Alumni Designer Spotlight: Gwendolyn Smith

The theme for Runway 10 is Remember Imagine, which encourages everyone to look at the past and remember where we started, so we are able to look towards the future and what we can achieve. In the final days before the show, we will be looking back at some of our past Runway designers and see where they are now, what lessons Runway taught them, and how they have carried them through life. The next Alumni we will be spotlighting is Gwendolyn Smith.