Fashion Experience 2018 debuts 11 collections by CCA emerging designers
Works presented through a fashion show and installation at SOMArts.
CCA Fashion Experience 2018 teaser trailer
San Francisco, CA—May 11, 2018—The CCA Fashion Experience 2018 will debut 11 professionally juried thesis collections from graduating students in the school’s Fashion Design program this May. The students will present their work through both fashion show and—for the first time—installations that frame their collections with artistic vignettes and speak directly to their design narratives. Utilizing street-cast models, the show will reflect the diversity of the Bay Area as well as global contributions to fashion.
"We are proud to celebrate these newest voices in the fashion world with a cutting-edge, interactive installation experience," says Lynda Grose, program chair and pioneer of sustainable fashion design. "This year’s Fashion Experience addresses the relationship between fashion, culture, and social identities while debuting this next generation of audacious designers."
The free and public event will kick off with a presentation of the collections and will then open up into individual showcases with the designers and their models. Audiences will also be invited to experience and interact with the student installations—providing deeper engagement with both the designers’ collections and their processes.
Themes explored through this year’s student work are deeply personal and intimate, explore individuality, and champion diversity of experience. Examples include: the use of clothing as a form of protection and concealment, the search for individual identity, displacement and the loss of home, celebration of ancestry, and more. The graduating students presented in the show have worked collaboratively to problem solve on a range of challenges—from experimental fabric developments to virtual reality to new dressing and construction systems. One-of-a-kind prototype samples of the fashion designers’ works will also be available for purchase.
CCA Fashion Experience 2018 is part of a series of events and exhibitions organized by the college to celebrate the work of its graduating students across all disciplines from May 10 through 13. The series features the school’s annual Commencement Exhibition—an expansive and interdisciplinary showcase of work by graduating students across all disciplines on the college’s San Francisco campus, as well as additional exhibitions and events held at locations in the surrounding neighborhoods. CCA Fashion Experience 2018 is produced by associate professor and chair of Fashion Design Lynda Grose and lecturer of Fashion Design Jarred Garza and curated by professor of Industrial Design Mara Holt Skov.
CCA Fashion Experience 2018
Friday, May 11, 2018
SOMArts (934 Brannan Street, San Francisco CA 94103)
Free and open to the public beginning at 7:30 pm
VIP program begins at 5:30 pm.
About CCA Fashion Design Program
Established in 1996, CCA’s Fashion Design program is an idea-driven, craft-based BFA program that emphasizes authentic conceptual development, risk-taking, and skills of fashion practice. The mission of the program is to produce designers with an authentic point of view able to work across disciplines and contribute to fashion as a reflection of society and culture.
Students develop technical expertise in traditional and cross discipline form, finding methods that range from tailoring and draping to laser cutting, routing, and molding. All CCA Fashion Design students graduate with skills to take on the challenges of sustainability through creative design interventions. Alumni of the program work in a range of positions with the industry for companies and designers, such as John Varvatos, Ralph Lauren, Narciso Rodriguez, Badgley Mischka, Thom Browne, Viktor & Rolf, Libertine, Athleta, Abercrombie & Fitch, Gap Inc., Gymboree, J. Crew /Madewell, Levi Strauss & Co, TIBI, Nike, and C2C Institute. Many have also gone on to develop their own companies in the United States and abroad.
About California College of the Arts
Founded in 1907, California College of the Arts (CCA) educates students to shape culture and society through the practice and critical study of art, architecture, design, and writing. Benefiting from its San Francisco Bay Area location and faculty of expert practitioners, the college prepares students for lifelong creative work by cultivating innovation, community engagement, and social and environmental responsibility. Graduates are highly sought-after by the world’s leading companies, architecture and design firms, cultural and arts organizations, and more. CCA is creating a new, expanded college campus at its current site in San Francisco, spearheaded by the award-winning architectural firm Studio Gang, and will provide more student housing than ever before.