The Niles West Fine and Applied Arts Fashion Show “The End of an Era” was held on May 8 at 7 p.m. in the Black Box Theatre. The show reflected years of growth, discipline and students’ hard work.
Senior Mariyam Yevaz Ali knows firsthand the stress and hard work the students put into the show as a model herself. She wore pieces innovated and constructed by students in AP Art or Fashion Design.
“At first, it was really stressful; we had to practice and come up with our poses on the fly since we couldn’t do it until we had the dresses on and play with the fabric,” Ali said. “They tell us that it’s like we are playing a character.”
Students spent hours working on their pieces. After 33 years at Niles West, retiring fashion and family consumer science teacher Michelle Kline emphasizes the importance of students’ work.
“Fashion construction teaches you many life skills,” Kline said. “I would love to see the fashion show continue as a student-run production. I think the fashion show is a great way to showcase student work.”
Designer and senior Kim Nguyen shares the sentiment, having worked on her pieces since the fall. Her collection explored insecurity as an invasive plant that grows and consumes a person over time. Through five pieces, Nguyen visually represented different stages of that struggle.
“For this year, I wanted to make more wearable art because I really like making them,” Nguyen said. “In the class, we have a lot of freedom and so many materials readily available for us. We can create whatever we want.”
For inspiration, Nguyen looks toward designers such as Alexander McQueen and John Galliano, while also drawing ideas from Pinterest and her everyday surroundings. Her first design featured vines wrapping around a figure in a trench coat, symbolizing how insecurity begins to take hold. In the second piece, a model’s organs were tangled with plants, illustrating the physical toll that insecurity can take. As the dresses went on, the insecurity got bigger.
“The fourth stage is metamorphosis, where she gains strength from the journey and the obstacle she went through,” Nguyen said.
Nguyen said she intentionally styled the final piece with bridal elements because she associates weddings with new beginnings. Like Nguyen’s, many of the pieces modeled on the walkway made an investigation or presented a thesis, which is part of the AP Art class and Fashion Design class curriculum.
