Back stage chaos.

7 p.m.

It is the calm before the storm.

Well, if you don’t include the backstage area where the storm has already struck in the form of whirling dervish hair dressers, make-up artists, models, and frantic senior designers who are about to see their garments shoot down the runway.

The registration tables are armed and ready for the 800 + guests who will soon come to join us to celebrate another year of amazing art and design—and of course a spectacular runway show.

Thanks to Limitedbrands Foundation, who once again stepped up to be the event’s title sponsor, we truly can celebrate knowing we have raised significant dollars to support the scholarships that help make the dream of a college education a reality.

The VIP pre-show party, sponsored by Nationwide, is set up and ready. The caterers are standing by to share delightful tidbits of nosh that look almost too good to eat. (Almost. There really should be a special bloggers snack plate, don’t ya think?) The bartenders are stocked and ready to pour.

The bartenders are well stocked.

Of course, those bartenders will be extra busy later when all of our guests head back towards our mixologist after the runway show to enjoy a drink and some dancing thanks to our Après Runway Sponsors Capital Style Magazine and Justice. But before the post-show party, there will be one hella-good show as one-of-a-kind fashion struts down the runway, which comes to us thanks to EXPRESS; and, at some point in the proceedings, Easton Town Center will honor one of the fashion students with the inaugural Easton Fashion Award.

But, for now, things are calm. Surrounding the runway are neat rows of seats, each topped with a lookbook, sponsored by Abercrombie & Fitch, and gift provided by Mukha Custom Cosmetics. Soon those seats will be filled by VIP ticket holders.

Sponsors, of course, are crucial to a fundraising event and I really do need to take a moment and be sure we thank every generous business and individual who has helped us build this experience.

Our Couture sponsors are Diamond Cellar, Huntington Bank, Lane Bryant, THE LIMITED, Macy’s, NORDSTROM, Polaris Fashion Place, Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP, and R.G. Barry/Dearfoams.

Our printing sponsor is Baesman and the General Admission Pre-Party sponsor is Union Café.

This year’s host committee co-chairs are Karen & Michael Fiorile and Ellen & Ed Yen

And our 2012 host committee is: Dana & Mitch Acock, Jakki & Jerry Allen, Jamie & Steve Allen, Trudy & Earl Bartley, Pam & Jack Beeler, Teresa & Brian Biernat, Kimberly A. Blackwell, W. Daniel Cordray, Mary & Colby Crall, Loann W. Crane, Bev Darwin, Phaedra & Michael Edwards, DeeDee & Herb Glimcher, Alexis Jacobs, Patty & Jerry Jurgensen, Charlotte & Jack Kessler, Monica & Doug Kridler, Stephanie & Adam Lewin, Peg Mativi & Donald Dick, Tim Maurer & Sanito Mendoza, Veda Nami, Jamie & Bill Reinbolt, Jody & Jeff Scheiman, Thekla Shackelford, Danielle & George Skestos, Jacqueline & Chris Snell, Arlene & Michael Weiss, and Lyn Williams.

Thank you!

Every aspect of our event is touched by community generosity via in-kind donations for everything from the catering via Cameron Mitchell Catering and the adult beverages from Heidelberg Distributing Company, Mumm Napa, and Middle West Spirits, who designed the event’s signature cocktail ARTini.

Backstage where the pre-show chaos reigns, Mukha Custom Cosmetics is once again making sure our models look fierce on the runway—and they are getting hair support from Studio Fovero.

There are behind the scenes elements (lights, video, sound) that usually go unnoticed other than the feeling the crowd gets when they witness a wonderfully staged event—much of the credit for that goes to Live! Technologies—although the thumping beats that get us from party to runway to party again come via our illustrious DJ Rainer. Oh, and speaking of the post-show party, VJ props go to Rainer and  S77.

And the exquisite lookbook that I mentioned before, well Ologie was a key player in mentoring its production along with the invite and branding for the show.

Flowers, chairs, tables and other event accessories come to us thanks to Lasting Impressions and FLOURISH bespoke floral & event styling.

Yum.

An event isn’t an EVENT, unless we sell tickets. That’s where our our media sponsors Capital Style Magazine and CD101 come in. They have spent the better part of the year helping us get the word out and sell tickets. Did you see our students in the May issue of Capital Style? If not, pick up a copy.

Oh, and despite rumors to the contrary, models need to eat—at least our student models do. Thanks to Donatos and Pepsi Cola Bottling of Columbus for keeping our students fed and hydrated during some long rehearsal hours. Also, walking in those heels…not as easy as it looks. Thanks to Foot Petals, inc for providing shoe inserts.

Big thanks and hearty applause to everyone who helped make this night happen.

Guests are arriving and I hear champagne popping, I wonder if I can sneak a canapé?

Rachel Kaplan always knew she would work in fashion in some capacity.

Rachel Kaplan always dreamed she would work in fashion in one facet or another. In fact, when she was in fourth grade she made a bold statement to her mother. She told her she was going to be a model AND a fashion designer. So far, both of those childhood declarations have become a reality.

For the past few years Rachel has participated in the CCAD Senior Fashion Show as a model, wearing the works of other designers. This year, she’s eager to finally have her own creations take the runway.

Like her classmates, Rachel had to select both a sculpture and painting as her muse for her collection. Because she normally finds her inspiration in organic shapes or even street fashion, she found this particular part of the process more difficult than creating any of her five garments.

“I’ll be out and see a shape in a tree or in the clouds that looks like a dress or a shirt to me and I’ll sketch it out, so it was really hard for me to pick a sculpture and painting to draw inspiration from,” she admits.  “Instead, I chose to look for paintings and sculptures that encompassed the colors I wanted.”

Since she wanted her designs to reflect the 1930s era, she narrowed her focus to artists who were close to that time frame, but also reflected the colors and movement she wanted in her pieces. She ultimately chose Umberto Boccioni’s sculpture “Unique Forms of Continuity in Space” (1913; Cast 1931) and Georgia O’Keeffe’s painting “Red Canna” (1923).

“I used a lot of the colors from the artists including the golds, tans, bronzes, blacks, and the pop of reds,” notes Rachel. “The painting has so much flow to it, which moves your eye through it. I loved the flow that the sculpture had, too. It almost looked as if it was a person with a piece of fabric draped over top.”

Rachel's sketches were inspired by 1930s evening wear.

Rachel wanted to incorporate that “flow” aspect to her collection through the use of lightweight fabrics mixed with metallic fabrics, which would give the element of movement when light hit it.

“I wanted to create pieces that were really glamorous and showed off the curves of a woman’s body,” says Rachel. “I also wanted designs that looked expensive and dramatic on the runway, so I chose beaded, sequined, and metallic fabrics. To add a softer top layer, I chose chiffon.”

Rachel’s fabric selections were key in turning her works into a cohesive collection, but not without a few labor-intensive sewing and hand-beading sessions. Out of the five pieces selected for the show, she estimates that she spent at least a total of two weeks on each one.

“I’m still hand beading one of the gowns,” she muses. “One day I sat there for 14 hours. My fingers were numb!”

All of Rachel’s hard work will pay off on May 11 when she gets to watch models wear her collection on the runway instead of the other way around.  Make sure you purchase your tickets soon so you can be there too.

Fox 28′s Good Day Columbus

Set your DVRs. This week Fox 28’s Good Day Columbus and NBC 4’s Daytime Columbus will feature CCAD fashion design seniors and their models.

Animation junior Joann Allison Cundiff will be modeling Shirley Weng’s designs Wednesday, April 11 on Good Day Columbus, which airs from 7–9 a.m.

The following day, April 12, Michele Watson’s designs will be modeled by Interior Design senior Susan Crenshaw on Daytime Columbus, which airs 11–11:30 a.m.

For more on CCAD’s Senior Fashion Show event, and to buy tickets, click here.

NBC 4′s Daytime Columbus

Amanda Smith envisioned her collection to be comfy, natural and cultured.

Each designer’s “canvas” for this year’s Senior Fashion Show collection is as diverse and captivating as the designer herself. There is not one collection that mimics the other, each standing tall on the inspiration and unique vision of the designer. Distinctive techniques, fabrics; and, of course, their chosen muse make each collection true, exceptional works of wearable art.

Amanda Smith’s designs take on big patterns, geometric and animal shapes, and try to include natural fabrics whenever possible. When you look at each piece separately you may question whether the two patterns would work together, but when you see the completed design you understand Amanda’s gift even more.

“My overall collection and style was derived from my experience studying abroad in England. While taking part in this amazing experience, I learned a lot about myself as a designer and how I design,” she says. “I learned to explore knitted fabric along with knitting my own fabric on a machine and by hand, which I have incorporated into my collection.”

Before exploring her true “passion for fashion,” Amanda considered applying her gift of assembling textiles and patterns to interior design. When she found that process to be nothing like Extreme Home Makeover, she expanded her creative search and found that fashion design satisfied her fabric cravings.

“All I wanted to do was immerse myself into the tactile feeling and handling of the fabric choices and creating something that gave a certain feeling,” she remembers.

Amanda used a "burnout" technique to create designs in some of her fabrics.

That notion is carried throughout her Senior Fashion Show collection, which is peppered with rich fabrics ranging from knit, suede and velvet, many of which were embellished with personal, hand-stitched details or with an inimitable “burnout” technique.

A burnout pattern is a special type of treatment used on tufted fabrics, like brocade or velvet, to create a distinctive look. To get the look she wanted, Amanda took her original sketches and developed them into digital designs using a computer graphics program. The designs were then printed, cut out, and placed over the fabric. A chemical paste was then applied to the fabric to create the desired pattern.

Being the perfectionist that she is, Amanda admits she completed this process several times until she got the results she wanted. Even now she has to hold back from fixing them again and again.

“My most difficult challenge is that I envision perfection and expect to present that through my finished pieces. Due to this challenge, when I look at my pieces I want to change them and fine tune them constantly,” reflects Amanda. “I feel like I’m never getting anywhere. I have a perfect state within my mind and inner drive to please and capture the perfectionism and never seem to reach the end.”

The final runway show is coming up fast and there is still work to be done, including creating an outfit for herself and putting the finishing touches on the garment she created for Kristy Eckert, Capital Style’s editor-in-chief. There’s still time for you to get your tickets, but those will be gone before you know it.

CCAD Fashion Show Photo Shoot

Overheard: I’m going down to grab the pasties, I’ll be right back.

Let me put that in a little context for you. It’s early afternoon on a Sunday, and I am at the photo shoot for the CCAD fashion show.

Those who have been to the main event may remember that we produce a gorgeous (yes I’m biased) magazine-style lookbook. Today we create the photography that makes that book amazing.

By we I mean everyone but me. I get to sit back and observe, and kind of goof around—did I mention I love my job?

I’m perched in the photo studio at CCAD.  It’s pretty much how you would imagine a professional photography studio. Lots of backdrops, props, massive lights and other equipment (which remains a mystery to me), and music. I don’t know who set the Pandora station but he/she is my new favorite person.

Downstairs, in a classroom, models go through hair and  make up. Then up here in the studio they get routed through four set ups, where they continue to be fussed with and then, eventually shot.

I’m not going to lie, photo shoots, like so many other things in life, are only fun for an observer for about an hour (at most). This is work people, and as such it can be a little repetitive—and there’s a lot of hurry up and wait. Fortunately I’ve got this blog to keep me busy.

Side note: between the strobes and the flashes going off I’m amazed people don’t randomly have seizures during photo shoots. I’m pretty sure I’m going home with an eye twitch.

There’s one thing happening this year that is different from years past. All the photography is being done by CCAD photography students. You will come to realize that every creative aspect of the fashion show event, from fashion design, to photography, to graphic design, is the result of CCAD talent.  There is a practical advantage to tapping into our own talent pool as well as a creative one. With multiple photographers working simultaneously the shoot is more efficient—which means that by the time you read this I’ll probably be writing snarky tweets about the Oscars.

Throughout the shoot I kept waiting for there to be a five-inch heel related accident. But other than a blowing a circuit, the drama was provided only by the garments. There are some photos below, but I tried not to give too much away. If you want to see more you will need to get yourself a ticket.

One more thing to mention, I took these photos of real photographers taking photos. So, adjust your expectations accordingly.

That’s a wrap people.