The USC Fashion Industry Association put on their annual fashion show on Saturday, April 26, at the Cooper Design Center. The event featured collections from designers “Clandestyn” by Dominic Jocas, “Sunshine Reigns” by Charlie Segal and Jaden Steinhoff, Tiana Mai, “Futurism” by Evan Gibson, “BANDIT” by Odin Frostad, “Tsilkas Designs” by Vasiliki S Tsilkas, “Cross Colours,” and “888anji x N.NAOIMI” by Angela Liu and Natalie Toma.
As guests entered the event space, they were offered complimentary snacks and drinks from many FIA sponsors, including student favorites like Red Bull and Dulce. Several vendors also sold clothing and jewelry before the event as guests mingled. Among the crowd of USC students were VIP guests from brands such as Dior and Nike.
“I remember seeing it on the slide show, and thinking ‘Oh my God, how is this going to come to fruition?’” said Keira Jameson, a junior majoring in psychology and a member of the FIA communications team. “And now it’s real, and it’s at this insane venue, and it’s the product of something that we all participated in, and we all created. All of our ideas came together into this physical space, and it’s so cool to see the vision come to life.”
The theme of this year’s event was “Olethros,” a Greek word meaning destruction proceeding renewal.
“I think what all of us wanted to take from it was just that you can find beauty in destruction, and you can come out of it completely renewed,” said Kimaya Badiani, a junior majoring in public relations. “It’s highlighting the process of breaking down and then building back up again.” Badiani is FIA co-president alongside Katie Jung, a junior majoring in fine arts.
The creatives behind the show incorporated the theme both on and off the runway, exploring it through multiple dimensions by including projection mapping, installation and AR, creating a truly immersive show. One particularly creative element, and a notable sponsor, was Roblox, which created designer avatars, allowing users to wear the fashions from the runway within the game.
The show opened with an interpretive dance, another interpretation of the theme. Dancers in white clothing moved as if they were parts of one organism, moving fluidly in motion together. One dancer, however, stood apart from the rest, moving as if she were malfunctioning before becoming absorbed into the group. As the dance came to an end, she was attacked by the others who unraveled the fabric around her, and she walked off alone. The unnerving display exemplified the theme of destruction and rebirth, and put the audience on edge, anxious to see what was in store.
First to take the runway was “Second Skin” by LA-based Tsilikas Designs, a collection made entirely of recycled materials. The up-cycled denim looks and the mix of fitted and flowing silhouettes made for a strong start to the show and set the tone for the rest of the collections, which all seemed to incorporate similar materials.
Next, the show transitioned into “партизан” by Clandestyn, which translates to “partisan.” The collection featured an impactful final look, a trench coat with a fur collar transforming the model into a villainous-looking character.
“I have always been interested in the tradition of military fashion,” said designer Jocas, a junior majoring in arts, technology and the business of innovation. “The Eastern European partisan fighters of World War Two were a huge inspiration, because I really liked the way that they combined utility with self-expression.”
Then there was a tonal shift into the delicate femininity of “888anji x N.NAOMI,” a collaboration between designers Angela Liu, a senior majoring in computer science and business administration, and Natalie Toma, a senior majoring in human biology. Liu designed for FIA’s fashion show last year, but this year she brought Toma with her to make her first foray into fashion design. The pair showed their collections in tandem, with Toma’s three-piece collection titled “Twilight” coming out first, followed by Liu’s nine looks titled “Bittersweet.”
A major inspiration for Liu’s collection was her impending graduation.
“I really wanted to make it a tribute to USC. A lot of my dresses were white dresses, so it was kind of a nod to white dresses on graduation day,” said Liu. “I just really wanted to thank everybody who made my time here at USC so impactful.”
The following looks by “Sunshine Reigns,” another collaboration between designers Charlie Segal, a junior majoring in business administration, and Jaden Steinhoff, a junior majoring in arts, technology and the business of innovation, were also inspired by their time at USC. Their collection, titled “West 28th street,” was an ode to fraternity row, where the two live.
“We were inspired by certain characters we see walking up and down the row,” said Segal.
They showed deconstructed and reworked USC sweatpants, and one model carried a laptop with her, as if she just got out of a late-night study session at Leavey. Like Liu, their final look included a nod to graduation, with a red and yellow stole covered in sharpie. Not only this collection, but their entire brand is inspired by their experience as USC students, and by the vibrant Los Angeles community.
“Freshman year, we really got really inspired by the sun-faded signs and this scent of warm beer and things like that around our fraternity,” said Steinhoff. “I think we try our best to replicate and embody that feeling in our clothes and sort of personify that visceral reaction that we initially had into clothing.”
Next up was “Guachas Del Mar (abridged)” by BANDIT. The operatic music set the tone for the collection, which consisted of very fluid pieces, denim made to look like silk, and a notable nearly sheer dress made of a gauze-like material.
In a change of pace, “Cross Colours Classic Cross Colours Atelier,” by the well-established brand, brought pops of color to the runway. The vibrant color blocking and the paint splatters adorning denim jackets made a statement.
Christian Bipat, a sophomore majoring in business administration served as the stylist of the collection and represented designers TJ Walker and Carl Jones at the show. He said he kept the theme of the show in mind when putting the outfits together, as well as the brand’s mission statement, “clothing without prejudice.”
“My idea for what clothes I want our models to wear was, at first, more so single color designs, like black, brown, beige. And then as the pieces go along, they have pink splatter and they get more colorful, to show this new creation coming from these darkened colors,” Bipat said.
Keeping the pops of yellow as a through line, the show then transitioned into “Conflict and Hi Vis” by Futurism. The designs incorporated camouflage print throughout the collection, bringing a laid-back energy to the runway.
Finally, closing out the show was “Serene” by LA-based designer Tiana Mai. The flared sleeves and pants, as well as the lightweight fabric, gave the looks an angelic quality as the models came floating down the runway. The final look of the collection featured a lengthy train, a fitting conclusion to a bold and innovative show.
As the music faded and the audience stood to rightfully deliver the designers their flowers, the FIA board was finally able to catch their breath and celebrate by taking a group photo. They deserve to receive their flowers as well. Their hard work served as a showcase of emerging artists’ creativity and fostered the next generation of innovation in the fashion industry.