It s a Wrap: Fashion Students Show Their Best Wears  

University of Cincinnati fashion design students spend years in the classroom and in the workplace – sharpening their skills in New York, Los Angeles, Europe and points between. 

As the culmination of this applied and academic training, about 25 seniors and about 75 juniors, pre-juniors and sophomores will spotlight their best collections and garments in a fashion show set for 8 p.m., June 10, under a big-top tent at the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning.  Close to 1,000 patrons are expected to attend the event which is sold out.  However, the show can still be seen simulcast and invidual garments are on free preview this week at DAAP.  Click here for more simulcast/preview details. 

Among the participating students are:

Senior

Christine Achen

, 22, of Sylvania, Ohio, will exhibit a casual, women’s wear collection made from environmentally friendly, biodegradable fabrics and dyes.  Her spring/summer ensemble of interchangeable jackets, pants, dresses and sleeveless shirts make use of neutral shades with splashes of avocado green and terra-cotta orange.  Achen, who has co-opped in Los Angeles (for Hot Kiss, Inc. Corporation and The Couture Clothing Co. ), New York City (for Liz Claiborne) and Columbus (for R.G. Barry Corporation) and traveled in Europe, is extracting the dyes from plants like logwood, matter root and fustic, boiling the plants in her own kitchen in order to extract the dyes. 

Senior

Mary Wolf

, 23, of Xenia, Ohio, is creating a spring/summer collection for both men and women.  The “a little dressy” ensembles encompass two knee-length dresses, skirt-and-top combination, a women’s jump suit and a man’s suit.  Each women’s garment bares the calf, and she is designing special shoes to emphasize the leg.  Wolf is  making her own high-heeled and platform shoes from wood, aluminum and beaded straps to further accentuate the leg and foot.  Having worked cooperative-education quarters at Tandy Brand Accessories, Inc. and at Fossil in Dallas and at Liz Claiborne in New York, Wolf will work as an assistant designer at Tandy Brand in Dallas after graduation.

Senior

J.D. Stuntebeck

, 22, of Centerville, Ohio, is basing his collection on “history’s vision of the future,” especially how women and women’s fashions were once predicted to evolve. His precise, fitted, backless and sedately colored wool dresses are accented by capes, coats and jackets.  For instance, a purple wool dress with a high collar is set off by an ultra suede jacket of light green.  With another ensemble, a cape of grey wool opens to reveal a dress that sweeps from the right shoulder down to the left hip while another ensemble is comprised of a fitted, bodice dress of wool set off by an orange, cashmere jacket.  Having co-opped in New York for Garan, Incorporated (a children’s wear company) and OshKosh B’Gosh, Inc., in San Francisco for Urban Outfitters Inc., and locally for Oarsmen Sportswear, Stuntebeck is planning to work in the auto industry upon graduating,  specifically dedicating himself to color and trim design.

Senior

JoAnna Seiter

, 23, of Xenia, Ohio, is creating an evening/formal-wear collection for both men and women from hand-painted and dyed silk charmeuse, hand-embossed leather  and wool in violet, cranberry, avocado and teal.  The hems of the long dress and the long skirt she is fashioning both feature hand-painted designs at the hem.  Likewise, she has hand painted the leather chaps that offset a silk avocado shirt and black, wood pants.  Seiter has co-opped at Dolly, Inc. and Lion Apparel in Dayton, at Hot Kiss, Inc. Corporation in Los Angeles, at Liz Claiborne in New York and at Fossil in Dallas.

Senior

Celia Downard

, 23, of Harrison, Ohio, is fashioning functional, edgy “extreme sportswear” for women that she plans to market this fall, creating her own line available on the Web.  As a dedicated rock climber and dancer, Downard is creating form-fitting, lycra climbing ensembles that incorporate carabiners (a form of hook-clip that rock climbers use) and bungee cords.  While a UC student, Downard has spent her required cooperative-education work quarters at a local ballet school, in the costume department of Paramount’s Kings Island and at Motionwear in Indianapolis.

Junior Kelly Lindsley of Sylvania, Ohio, created an olive, tailored wool jacket along with crop pants for the show. Painstakingly embroidered along its lantern sleeves, the jacket comes to the waist in front and swoops lower, to hint at tails, in the back.  Inspired by traditional British military garb and band uniforms, Lindsley used skills from her cooperative-education work experiences to craft the ensemble by hand. As a UC student, she has worked at Trovata in Los Angeles, serving as the company’s first womenswear designer. Because of her paid co-ops at Trovata, Lindsley will have a line of women’s clothing in stores this fall.

Pre-junior Sarah Baughn, 20, of Kettering, Ohio, is creating two bodywear ensembles that begin as swimwear and can be converted to other uses.  One swimsuit can be adapted into eveningwear, and the other becomes casual sportswear with the addition of a skirt.  Baughn, has co-opped at Garan, Incorporated in New York and for Abercrombie & Fitch Company.  “I was super-involved at Abercrombie & Fitch as an assistant designer, working with the CEO and lead designer such that girl’s jeans I designed are now in stores,” she said.

Pre-junior Amy Knowlton, 21, of Springfield, Ohio, is similarly creating bodywear that combines swimwear with other functions.  She combines navy- and silver-metallic colored one-piece bathing suits with an evening gown and with athletic apparel.  Knowlton is creating a form-fitting, long-sleeved, knee-length dress of black, stretch lace that slips over one suit while also fashioning a black, hooded sweatshirt of sheer, stretch fabric and shorts out of stretch lace to accompany the other swimsuit.  Already, Knowlton has had two cooperative-education work quarters, one at Motionwear in Indianapolis and the other at Lion Apparel in Dayton.

Sophomore

Amy Longo

, 19, of Oakwood is designing a party dress for a “tween.”  The garment consists of mint-green, tank-top bodice embroidered with fairy looking down upon the lime-green, low-waisted, balloon skirt embellished by embroidery depicting a castle and a unicorn.  Long explained that the greatest challenge in designing for a very young adolescent is the challenge of creating something “proper but appealing.  You want that generation to have fun with their clothing but not look too old or too young.”

Lead sponsor for UC’s 54th annual fashion gala is Procter & Gamble.  Also sponsoring the event are The Hennegan Company and the Horst Rechelbacher Foundation with support from American Eagle Outfitters, Aveda/Fredric’s Corporation and the Berstein Family of Bensons Caterers. 

For additional information, call 513-556-6363.