After a Fashion

The collection by Colton Gerard, winner of Best Collection at Innovation, UT's fashion show for graduating seniors in apparel design (Photo by Seabrook Jones/www.juicythis.com)

FOR THE BOYS Gail Chovan of Blackmail, Patti Hoffpauir of the Garden Room, and I work as a panel advising the UT apparel design seniors on their graduation projects. A revolving cast of others aside from the three of us also work with the students, but we've done it consistently for 11 years now. I didn't always love what was being taught in the program, but then again, it wasn't my program – and it was an honor and privilege to be asked to review the collections. I wanted the program to be less home-ec oriented and to utilize more modern, industry-standard methods and equipment. I remember how easy it was when it started; there were slightly more than a dozen students, almost all of them female. Over the years, the apparel design program became much more popular (along with the growth of the idea that anybody could be a designer) and dozens and dozens of students enrolled. While the ranks swelled, so did the number of students who knew virtually nothing about sewing or design. It was difficult to say whether their lack of experience made it easier or harder for us to guide them. Sometimes there was so much we wanted to tell them, and sometimes we were simply speechless. The girls (and the occasional boy) were all over the map with their skills, wants, and desires. Eventually, the department had to institute a form of pretesting to determine who could enroll, and a miracle occurred. By including basic sewing requirements for enrollment, the overall quality of the students' work improved. Therefore it's necessary to judge the students' work on a curve. Poor construction can be seen from a mile away, even on the runway. Sometimes I'd almost rather look at a well-constructed, poorly designed garment than a poorly constructed, well-designed garment. And we see it all – just like in every other school at UT, the senior class will include the barely-made-its, the also-rans, the technicians, and the superstars. Watching their development can be awesome. We see the works in progress and sketches of the rest, at which point we make hard recommendations for the pieces that need it and offer sincere praise for the pieces that do not. It's easy enough to say, "Redo it," and if you're an expert seamstress, that might not be a problem. But when your skills are new and it took days for you to put a waistband on that skirt, hearing "Redo it" can be devastating. Sometimes it's simply a matter of saying that the jacket needs to be slightly shorter or to do away with the belt, and the students are free to accept or reject our suggestions. But Gail, Patti, and I generally reach a consensus and educate the student about why we are focusing on this issue or that. We're not brutal, and we try to temper our remarks with a great deal of humor – after all, our critiques are not meant to entertain a television audience like American Idol's. Each of us is very well-grounded in our respective professions, though there was a time when each of us could be subject to criticism of our work. We try to tread lightly. A common mistake is for students to try to use every trick in the book on a single garment; it's an easy mistake to make when you're excited about everything you're learning, but deadly when it comes to judging the clothes further down the line. After our consultations and shortly before the big senior fashion show, Patti, Gail, and I reconvene to view the almost-finished products. We see whether the students have chosen to take our advice or ignore it. Sometimes we hardly recognize the collections due to the changes. It is then that our votes are tallied and the winners announced at the fashion show. Some 5,000 people attended the show (up from about 500 attendees 10 years ago), and in a history-making finale for UT, for the first time, two males designing menswear took the top honors. Colton Gerard was honored with the Best Collection award for his fashionable and exquisitely detailed hunting ensembles, while honorable mention went to Christopher Pham and his Henley Regatta-inspired collection. Jessica Bird won Best Evening Gown, with honorable mention again going to Pham. Best Bridal Gown went to Angela Saenz and honorable mention to Sophia Al-Banna. Elise Romero and Bird tied for Most Marketable Collection, with Crystal Colmenero picking up an honorable mention. The award for Best Technical Construction went to Angela Saenz and Kalgari Ferris with an honorable mention for Dhanny Indrakusuma. Congratulations, everyone!