02 13 2014 Garakami

GARAKAMI February 13, 2014 "Academy of Art University Students Take on NYFW: Fall 2014 Collection" Fall 2014 Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Show http://garakami.com/20140213/academy-of-art-universitystudents-take-on-nyfw-fall-2014-collection/

In the winter, San Franciscan M.F.A. students from Academy of Art University (AAU) make the cold trek to the east coast to show their collections at New York Fashion Week. Led and orchestrated by Director for the School of Fashion Simon Ungless. The AAU fall collections showcase student talent from one of the leading fashion schools on the west coast.

On Friday February 7, 2014, the Lincoln Center was swarming with alumni, photographers, and fashion enthusiasts, all awaiting the AAU fall collections. In this year’s AAU Fall 2014 Collection, students showed their fearless use of different textures and fabrics - including alpaca, mohair, hand- knitted pieces, and even hand-made yarns.

With dedication and innovation, these designers have proven countless times that they are more than just students – they are emerging designers who we will likely see with their very own design houses in the years to come.

Jaci Hodges and Nisha Hanna Btesh Texas born M.F.A student Jaci Hodges collaborated with B.F.A. student Nisha Hanna Btesh to create a colorful womenswear collection that features Shibori felting to create three-dimensional radiant designs. Every piece was multi-colored with rich yellow, orange, and pink hues. The designs included knitted fabrics and embroidered and screen printed pants with short and long jackets atop full flowery skirts. Hodges also used lots of patterns, which allows the eyes to travel to even more colorful pants underneath. She sited her inspiration to be from the television show the Brady Bunch and the late 1960s.

Andrea Nieto and Frank Tsai B.F.A student Andrea Nieto grew up in Valle del Cauca, Colombia and is known for her textile designs that are inspired by raw emotion and pain from love. She collaborated with M.F.A. Fashion Design student Frank Tsai to design a menswear collection, which was dark with variations of black and gray. Nieto designed structurally formed jackets with shorts on top of pants; she added burgundy or gray turtlenecks under each piece that flowed well with her mysteriously shadowed prints. She even included caps, overalls, and combat boots to complete the layered looks.

Arijana Kajdić Hailing all the way from Velika Kladuša, Bosnia M.F.A student Arijana Kajdić and her family immigrated to Ravensburg, Germany until the end of the Bosnian war, then soon after migrated to Boise, Idaho. She noted that her grandmother and other nurturing women in her life inspired her picturesque designs for her recent collection. Kajdić displayed soft ashy grays and misty lilacs with hints of marble color into her designs. She created an overlay of fabrics using mohair, wool, and lace while also hand-dying her fabric. The dazzling fabrics gathered into thick and lengthy coats with shawls dangling, amongst long textured coats with hand-beaded chains and stones. The soft and lilac pastel colors only added to the use of the sheer flowered lace dress and high neck shirts and coats.