Fashion writer Laura Palmer learns more about the Bay Area students who showed in New York. Read her account of the fashion show here.
The seven fashion design students who showed at Bryant Park this season seem to reflect the Bay Area’s diverse cultural quilt. Here we unfurl the designs of all seven students, shake out their insights and inspiration, and uncover the daily lives of our budding local designers.
Amanda Cleary
A native Californian, Amanda Cleary’s designs were inspired by packages. No, no, not that kind of package. Actual boxes. Her vinyly angular shifts have multiple armholes, square shoulders, and a dimension that does, in fact, suggest duct tape and cardboard. Interesting, surely, but as far as form meets function is concerned, the designs would perhaps better suited to a Martian runway, so all four armholes could be filled. If any of the aesthetic from Elie Tahari’s line rubs off on Cleary (since she recently interned with Tahairi), Cleary’s next fashion week jaunt may be more cohesive.
When she’s not busy with bonding (one fabric to another, that is), Cleary is watching flicks at Grand Lake Theatre in Oakland.
Sawanya Jomthepmala
The geometric, origami designs that Sawanya Jomthepmala created were inspired by the stained glass in Thai Buddhist temples and the boats fashioned out of banana leaves during the Krathong Festival. (The boats are floated out to sea to bring good fortunes to those that release them.)