The Student Association of Fashion Merchandising and Marketing presented its annual sustainable fashion show on April 17. This year, the NMSU Fashion Club members used recycled and up-cycled materials to create their pieces to go with the “Bohemian Jungle” theme.
There were 28 garments made by 17 designers that were influenced by “nature, culture, and wild creativity.” Aidan Sever, who had planned previous club events for Fashion Week, such as the club’s pop-up thrift shop, headed the event’s planning team.
Sever’s design was named after his model “Bianca,” and used monochromic black velvet and polyester to make a black, tailored jacket and skirt. Sever said he enjoys creating avant-garde pieces. He found his inspiration for “Bianca” from fencing jackets. He made his design from scratch in the pattern-making class offered within the Fashion Merchandising and Design department.
“It’s like, you just make all the shapes first and then you put them all together to make the garment, versus, like, pinning them to the mannequin, that’s draping,” Sever said.
Designer Andrea Cano Vidal made two designs: “Harvest Threads: A Brewed Transformation” and “Midnight Waterfall.” Cano Vidal’s “Midnight Waterfall” was a black dress made of linen cotton, muslin, and polyester. Meanwhile, “Harvest Threads: A Brewed Transformation,” was inspired by the burlap fabric Cano Vidal received from Guatemala.
“. . . It used to have coffee in it, and I just, like, been wanting to use it. Then they threw out the theme and I was like, ‘Oh my God, it’s so perfect.’”
Cano Vidal is a senior, and hopes to own her own studio after graduation.
“I want to do something for my community, not necessarily in El Paso or [Las Cruces], just like anywhere,” Cano Vidal said. “I would love to work for big fashion houses like Vivienne Westwood. She’s my big inspiration.”
Along with the designs created, the show also featured styled outfits by four designers using articles of clothing from Savers.
Fermín Manzanares was encouraged to participate in the show as a model by his friend. Manzanares wore one of Nicole Mendez’s styled outfits as well as Mark Anderson’s “Urban Safari.” The latter was made with cheetah and zebra print fabrics and hand-dyed gauze.
“The designers here have excellent work,” Manzanares said. “I mean, I love it, just the creativity, and you can tell they’re going to go places. And I was speaking to many of the designers, even not designers that were my own, and they had plans. They had five-year plans, 10-year plans. They knew exactly what they wanted to be.”
The fashion show’s purpose is to highlight the skills Fashion Merchandising and Design students learn in marketing, promoting, and designing. The students and faculty also use the event to shed light on the fashion industry’s impact on the environment through the designers’ use of sustainable and repurposed materials.
Some designers, like Sever, said they already have plans in the works for next year’s show and look forward to working with more ethically sourced materials to bring their visions to life.
