Silver Needle Fashion Show : Laura Shell

Laura Shell beamed with happiness as her collection came down the runway at the 2 p.m. fashion show. Her collection, "Woman in the Gray Suit," depicted some modern takes on the styles most popular in the 1940's.  Laura debuted a black and gray lace ruche dress as her first garment, with all of the models wearing gloves.  

The gloves added a classic touch to her antique yet modern day collection.

Another look designed by Laura consisted of a tweed outerwear garment, shown on the model's arm below.  She also wore a gray dress with different black accent panels.  Keeping with Laura's inspiration, the model wore leather gloves to complete the ensemble.

Here below is the gray suit.  This garment sums up Laura's vision for her collection.  It features a plunging neckline, button detailing on the sleeves, and a back cutout, adding some flair.  

As her collection walked for the second and last time at the night show, Laura took to the runway as well, representing her senior collection.  The excitement and sense of accomplishment was prominent on Laura's face.  As her graduation nears, she is looking forward to bringing her talent wherever her career takes her.  

Inside Laura's Jubilee Critique

While most designers only had to worry about one critique this weekend, seniors had to anticipate two! Before their looks were numbered and scrutinized by the panel, senior designers had present their Silver Jubilee garments to the Fashion Program faculty. Laura's metallic jumpsuit is the perfect piece to celebrate 25 years of Fashion at Marist.

Laura's Runway Ready Weekend

Amidst the hustle and bustle of Runway Ready Weekend, Laura tirelessly works to perfect the garments that are about to be critiqued by Fashion Program faculty. Thus far Laura has completed six looks, and will be expected to explain the inspiration and construction of each one in front of a panel of Fashion Program Faculty. The panel painstakingly examines each student's garments and offers constructive criticism and guidance to designers.

Laura's collection plays with different hues of grey as well as different fabrics which she manipulates into various garments that should be staples in any powerful woman's wardrobe. From high waisted trousers to jumpsuits, Laura sought to create pieces that were unique yet classic in inspiration.

Laura's Jubilee Jumpsuit will walk down the runway in the grey cotton fabric above, as well as in the metallic black material below. 

Runway Ready Weekend is an important time for seniors because it give them an opportunity to perfect their collection before their runway debut. Just as Communications majors submit "rough drafts" of final papers, design majors must have their semester's work reviewed to make sure everything has come together properly. Senior collections are part of design majors portfolios so it is important that seniors put forth their best efforts to impress prospective employers.

Runway Ready Weekend

Runway Ready is the all-encompassing weekend where all fashion designers, freshman through senior alike, come together to present their final designs to a panel of Marist's fashion professionals (including Radley Cramer, Director of the Fashion Department).  It occurs the weekend prior to the Silver Needle Fashion Show, with the 2011 show celebrating the Jubilee anniversary of the fashion department at Marist College!

Models, designers, staff, and students were dressed to impress and on their game at 8 a.m., coffees in hand. The academic building that houses the fashion department was transformed into a fashion lover's dream.  Designers buzzed about, adjusting their freshly completed work on the models who tower above many of them.  The side entryway to the building was now a set for a functional photo shoot, recording the models with their look number which will be used as the lineup for the show.

Racks of clothing, bright lights and camera flashes, along with bins of shoes and accessories surrounded me.  As I got acquainted with my surroundings and said hello to my designers, I quickly eased into the fabulous vibe I was getting from those around me.  And it was exciting!

Running into fellow friends, including model Ben Gove, sophomore designer Eva Block, and model/Chic Fox Andrew Ludington as they wait to enter the presentation room.  

Upon spotting Grace amongst the other designers, she quickly whipped out these bad-ass shoes that will accompany her Motorcycle Chanel themed Iconic collection.  (Don't worry more of Grace to come soon!)

A hurried moment where Laura Shell's outerwear garment is brought to life on her model.  

Outerwear 101: Laura Shell Explains her 1940's Inspired Jacket

As Runway Ready Weekend begins, seniors are not only required to have their entire collections completed and ready to walk, but they must also have their outwear garment and Jubilee pieces finished. Fortunately Laura has planned her time well this semester and she has had her jacket made in fabric for weeks. The jacket's 1940's flair coincide with her collection's elegant vintage inspiration. Lucky for Laura, her jacket fits her as well as her model !

“Right Before a Model Walks, I’m the One That Says, GO!”

An Interview with Kim Warren - Fashion Show Co-Director, Humanitarian and Philanthropist

By Sara Shea

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY - Sitting on a couch in the Fashionology alcove, Kim Warren patiently plays with her Ipad, as she waits to discuss Seaming A[wear]ness, her senior honors capping project. At a glance, Kim looks like an average Marist senior - slightly frazzled, with a coffee in one hand and a Blackberry in the other. However, unlike most seniors, Kim is the co-director of the 25th Annual Silver Needle Fashion Show, graduating with honors and the co-founder of Seaming A[wear]ness, an organization created by five Marist students focused on promoting Fair Trade in the fashion industry.

“Its funny,” Kim said, “Seaming Awearness actually started as a completely different project for me.”

Last summer, 10 honors seniors with different majors began planning a Fair Trade based capstone project.

“We originally wanted to take a trip to Ethiopia and actually went as far as discussing it with Dennis Murray,” Kim said. “Unfortunately there was not enough funding for all 10 of us to go so we decided to explore other options."
The group of 10 eventually became a group of five – Kim Warren and Alana Lansenbigler, who are fashion merchandising majors, Maddie Sasso and Brenna Lahif, who are fashion design majors, and Kelly Hall, a biology major at Marist. These five individuals have worked tirelessly for almost a year to create and promote Seaming A[wear]ness and A[wear]ness Day, an event aimed at publicizing Fair Trade by bringing Fair Trade designers and vendors to campus on April 27, 2011.

“We are asking for $3 donations, with all profits going directly to MEND,” Kim said. “MEND is a division of Invisible Children run by women child soldiers in Uganda trying to make a life for themselves. They create handbags and sew their name into each one. They are a bit pricey, (approximately $80 per bag) but the feeling behind it is incredible.”

The Seaming A[wear]ness team is in the process of securing guest speakers to discuss the importance of Fair Trade in our society. A representative from MEND will be flying in from Uganda and Fair Trade designer, Eileen Fisher, will be coming to speak to Marist students on A[wear]ness Day. In addition to informational lectures, there will be a Fair Trade Bazaar set up in the Student Center that will include food, jewelry and beauty products.

“I’m most excited to hear [Eileen Fisher] speak,” Kim said. “Fair Trade has always been a passion of mine. I would love to work for her because I feel like it’s so important to love what you do. I never want to work for a company that ships stuff in from somewhere and you have no clue who made it or where it came from.”

Kim and the other four founders of Seaming A[wear]ness further demonstrated their commitment to Fair Trade by creating a special project for the sophomore design majors to complete for the 25th Annual Silver Needle Fashion Show. Each year the Fashion Program faculty work to create a unique assignment for the sophomore designers to undertake during the semester. In years past the fashion show has featured the Red Dress Project as well as the Pink Dress Project, in which sophomores designed dresses to raise money for heart disease and breast cancer. This year, Seaming A[wear]ness proposed that the sophomore collection should focus on Fair Trade textiles and incorporate MEND bags into runway looks.

“I believe this is the first time students have designed a project concept for the sophomores,” Kim said. “I can’t wait to be like ‘That’s what we’ve been working on all year, there it is!’”

In addition to creating Seaming A[wear]ness, A[wear]ness Day, and the sophomore design project, Kim is also co-directing the 25th Annual Silver Needle Fashion Show – a daunting task in and of itself. As co-director, Kim is typically “running around with a headset on” making sure everything is perfect for the big day. With so many ambitions and so much creative energy, Kim Warren and Seaming A[wear]ness are two powerful forces to watch for in the future.

Woman in a Gray Suit: Laura's Inspiration

As part of the 25th Anniversary celebration, seniors were asked to design an outwear garment to walk in the show. Laura is creating a herringbone jacket that fits her as well as her model. The jacket is 1940's inspired, with puffed sleeves and a belted waste. 

The jacket is first created in muslin (the fabric below), perfected and then re-created using the selected fabric. 

Laura's collection is comprised of 12 pieces that are divided into thirds and due for review by her professors, Leong Ong and Philip Leeming, throughout the semester. Laura is currently creating a dress and jumpsuit in muslin for an April 4th deadline.

Tables in the design lab are always full of patterns, scraps of every fabric imaginable, and the occasional cell phone or Starbucks cup.

Laura's collection is 1940's inspired with a powerful, business woman twist. Jumpsuits, super high waisted trousers, and tastefully provocative dresses are all being designed to empower the woman wearing them. 

Laura describes her collection as being comprised of "silhouettes that not a lot of women could pull off, but when a woman does wear it, people notice her."

Meet our senior fashion designer, Laura Shell!

This is Laura’s second year at Marist, after she traveled around the world studying her passion. She is excited to establish herself as a designer in the industry and continues to develop her personal design style.

Age: 23
Hometown: Idaho Falls, Idaho
Favorite color: I don't really have a favorite color.
“I like to keep trying things out. Sometimes I’ll keep to a certain color scheme, for example my collection now is greys, neutrals, and black. I’ve designed things before that are colors of the rainbow, I’ve don’t all black, then I’ve done pastel colors. I’m still experimenting with what I want to be as a designer.”
Favorite designers: Alexander McQueen, Philosophy by Di Alberta, Marc Jacobs
Why did you choose Marist for fashion?
“I was attending Lorenzo de’ Medici Institute in Florence, Italy. There weren’t enough girls in the program anymore, so they suggested I transfer to Marist. The difference between studying fashion in Italy and Marist is if you study fashion at Marist, and you study abroad in Florence, you’re not allowed to take draping, pattern making, anything that has to do with design, but I was an LDM student so that is where I learned my draping and patternmaking and drawing.”
Why fashion design?
“I was at Barnes and Noble looking at interior design books because when I had stopped going to school for graphic design I was going to go into interior design. And those books all happen to be right next to each other—graphic, interior, and fashion. I saw the fashion books and they just caught my eye and I spent hours in Barnes and Noble looking through the fashion books. It was really intriguing. I decided that this was something I wanted to try out, to go for. So I guess you could say it was just books that inspired me.
What are your essentials for a day in the lab?
“I always bring music, patterns, scissors, all that stuff. I always bring food. Caffeine for sure, to keep us up. Sometimes we bring pajamas, because we change into them cuz were here all night, and slippers, they’re essential to bring with us.”