DAAP Fashion Show takes flight May 3

For the first time, a 30,000-square-foot airplane hangar will be transformed into a fashion runway for this popular event. UC has partnered with Waypoint Aviation to use their private jet terminal at Lunken Airport, located in Cincinnati’s East End, as a unique new venue.

As always, senior students from UC’s College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning will present their thesis collections, totaling more than 250 garments from 53 students. The show is complete with lighting and staging by a team from UC’s College-Conservatory of Music, 40-plus models, a live DJ and a backstage crew of more than 150, including Aveda hair and makeup designers, dressers, lighting and sound techs and stage managers. The show takes off at 7:30 p.m., Friday, May 3.

With a new location changing the look and feel of the show, this year’s show theme is “NEXT,” a nod to UC’s strategic direction, Next Lives Here.

“After many years of hosting our flagship show on campus, we have now partnered with Waypoint Aviation to use their private jet terminal at Lunken Airport to host an event unlike any other that we have done before,” says Gjoko Muratovski, director of DAAP’s Myron E. Ullman School of Design. “By taking our fashion runway to an airfield runway, we will certainly provide an unforgettable experience for our guests.”

In the past, the DAAP Fashion Show has taken place in UC’s Campus Recreation Center, Taft Theatre and Cincinnati’s convention center. In early years, classroom tables were tied together to form a runway. This new venue will make for a totally new experience.

"It is said that the only constant in fashion is change,” says longtime show director Laurie Wilson. “The senior fashion design students felt strongly about creating a new experience for the fashion show this year.”

Wilson notes that unique environments for fashion shows are a trend at fashion weeks around the world, and these shows often feature a runway at audience level instead of on an elevated stage. Waypoint’s hangar allows them to create a similar experience, as all attendees will be within five rows of the runway.

“We are so grateful to Waypoint for embracing our vision for this event and opening their new location for us,” Wilson says. “It will be a very exciting new experience for everyone — designers, models, production team and the attendees.”

Mark Davis, CEO and owner of Waypoint Aviation, looks forward to hosting such a long-standing and unique event in the hangar.