Behind the Scenes: Designing for My First Fashion Show
As a creator, bringing a concept into reality is one of the most satisfying parts of life.
I just updated my portfolio(which you should definitely check out) with my two designs from my first-ever fashion show and absolutely needed to share a bit about my experience. For me, this will serve as a source of reflection as I’m certainly interested in participating in more shows, but I also just wanna shed insight into the inter-workings of being a fashion designer- hair, makeup, models, coordination, dress rehearsals- all of which I was previously oblivious to :/
I can't stress enough how much of a processsssss this was, which was the best and the worst part of my experience. On one hand, it was incredible to start with conceptual sketches around the show's theme, Beautiful Resistance, and then actualize them into clothing(aka wearable art). This months-long creation processes was extremely affirming of my abilities, but took soooo damn long(compared to any of my previous projects, that is).
I began my sketches in November, shared the concepts with my two models, then started patternmaking in December, and worked sourcing materials and sewing up until hours before the show in March. With that being said, I can acknowledge that it was challenging for me to remain motivated the entire time as it was earning me zero dollars(dun dun dunnnn). Since the fashion show was with a university organization, it was an unpaid opportunity, which honestly was extremely challenging for me to grapple with as a girly used to being compensated for my time...with money. I feel like I’ve been pretty transparent about this tension that I feel exists between monetary compensation and fashion design, so it was really hard to prioritize this work amongst other paid projects I had going on.
OMG! Let's talk about collaborating with other artists, designers, creators, and models- which, again, I had no experience doing(you seeing a trend?). Most of my creative experience and enterprise is completely solo, which I LOVE; having complete agency over the timeline and process of my creations makes sense for me. However, working with many other people to bring our individual visions to a collective reality was pretty freaking cool! Still, I remained uncertain about the expectations for myself as a designer; I received limited direction from the student organization, and (like most creative careers) there are no common guidelines on how to be a designer for a fashion show. Maybe there's a YouTube video for that, but I didn't watch it...
After lazily coordinating times to meet with my models, I realized that I had never fitted a garment onto someone--uh oh. Not only did this require me to gain some tactical skills(resizing and pinning without poking them), but I found myself uncertain about how many detailed assertions to share with my models. For instance, I wanted to make sure they were happy and comfortable with their looks and that they felt good without having to dictate 100% of details- WAIT I have to pick out their vibe, jewelry, makeup, and hair too?
Still, I enjoyed collaborating with the models, who were responsible for bringing my designs to LIFE! Watching my pieces move with their bodies and fierce walks in February started to get me more and more excited for the show. Once I got into the groove of collaborating, it became more and more fun--I liked chatting with the makeup artists about color theory, and even styled one of my model's hair! This again affirmed me of my skills and creative capacities but required a lot more work than I expected to fulfill my conceptual idea.
As you can tell by this point, I had SO MANY firsts in these past four months and learned a lot (largely because I had no choice but to DO). I am super proud to have developed the skills of pattern making, utilizing measurements, and making clothing from SCRATCH. As an upcycler, I am used to working with existing clothing and tailoring them to match specific ideas, but I just followed some free tutorials, did LOTS of eyeballing, and BOOM the looks were made.
After this experience, I know with confidence and certainty that I am a fashion designer and will continue to pursue this work throughout my life. I am grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with others and also present my art in a more performative way than I usually do.
The setting, drama, and entertainment of a fashion runway is like nothing I've ever been a part of and I'm excited to keep exploring the ways that my audience(YOU) interact with my creations. However, the lack of organization and compensation from this experience is something I have certainly learned from--gotta set those boundaries to assert my worth!
I think I've been rambling enough at this point! Have a look at my designs and comment on what you think. If you wanna know more about the concepts behind my LOOKS and their relation to resistance, let me know that too.
Thanks for having a read and always always stay creative(Inspiration is LITERALLY everywhere).
Ciao,
Lexi Lee