Fashioning designers

“American Idol” has done it. “Project Runway” has done it. Now, UCLA is doing it.

Fashion and Student Trends at UCLA, or FAST, a student-run organization that holds a fashion show each year to showcase the works of aspiring fashion designers, may be the next launching pad for propelling unknown faces into household names.

Student models will strut down the catwalk in Ackerman Grand Ballroom today at FAST’s 2007 fashion show, “Rebirth,” which will feature 13 student fashion designers’ creations. Historically, the show has been a springboard for the careers of models, designers, video installation artists and just about anyone who has a thirst for producing a major fashion show.

“There’s a huge collaboration between mediums ““ that’s why it’s so special,” said Shaun Westbrook, FAST’s entertainment director and a third-year Design | Media Arts student. “I can’t think of any other medium that does that.”

Students who come from a multitude of fields get to network and get a taste not only of how the fashion industry functions, but also how to work on a professional level in the entertainment business.

Susan Tran, a fourth-year cognitive science student and a designer in today’s show, began sketching dresses and blouses at age 3 and learned to use a sewing machine in third grade in Vietnam. Tran’s experiences on that trip provided the inspiration for her socially conscious clothing line, “Jaded Princess.”

“When I visited an asylum in Vietnam, I saw a man wearing a trash bag as a shirt and it broke my heart,” she said. “I named my line “˜Jaded Princess’ after that experience, taking trash and making it look beautiful.”

This fall, Tran will attend the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, a well-known fashion design school in Los Angeles that has produced the likes of Nick Verreos and Daniel Franco from season two of “Project Runway.” Franco will be attending FAST’s show this year as a celebrity guest.

Tran has realized her fashion design dream from the ground up, using raw materials that go well with the theme of “Rebirth.” She created “Jaded Princess” from scratch ““ literally ““ using curtains, bed sheets, and trash bags to make glamorous evening gowns.

By giving Tran the responsibility of a real designer, including working with a team of people from different fields, FAST has provided her with the tools for navigating the fashion industry.

“I met with my models during model fittings to make sure that they felt comfortable in what they were wearing; I take their suggestions very seriously,” she said. “And I’ll be working with a photographer this weekend to shoot pictures of my line.”

FAST offers its participants the chance to meet industry professionals that they would not have met otherwise in their college experience at UCLA, which usually does not provide for much interaction with the burgeoning fashion hub of Los Angeles.

The student organization was started in 2001 in response to the campus’s lack of a fashion major. Despite its relative infancy, however, former FAST fashion show participants have already gone on to attend the prestigious Parson’s School of Design in New York, one of the top fashion design schools in the country, and opened their own boutiques.

FAST’s show is not just about offering fashion designers a taste of the limelight. Students who work behind the scenes, such as Westbrook, an aspiring filmmaker, also benefit from industry exposure.

Westbrook, who created several videos for the show that will play in between designers’ sets, plans to use the experience of having worked on a major production to help him in the film industry.

“I’m graduating a year early to direct,” he said. “I get to practice my trade by making videos for FAST’s show, and I feel set to go it on my own even though it’s hard out there (in the film industry) because I’ve done some great networking.”

Aaron Valenzuela, a fourth-year Design | Media Arts student, fashion designer for the show, and president of FAST, says that the organization’s governing board puts inviting industry professionals as one of its top priorities.

“”˜Rebirth’ is very structured in terms of professionalism; we have a lot of sponsors on board, and we’ve invited industry representatives, whether they are socialites or fashion magazine editors,” Valenzuela said. “People in the industry are always looking for the next big thing.”

These style arbiters have good reason to come to a fashion show at UCLA. Student designers like Tran are not just petty dabblers; they’ve gone the full route in terms of design and execution and, due to their smaller budgets, they are probably doing more hands-on work than most established designers would have to do.

The designers have done everything, from drawing initial sketches to attaching feathers and from sewing outfits to raising funds, all by themselves, which has put a strain on their already hectic schedules.

“I haven’t slept in days because I have been so focused on putting the finishing touches on my outfits,” Tran said.

But Westbrook says the end product will be worth it ““ especially when Bruins see their fellow students’ fashion talent.

“Fashion is a medium that is in movement all the time. Because the show takes place at UCLA, a forerunner for film and art, it makes the show all the more appealing to those who come,” Westbrook said. “When we come together, we’re making something new. Everyone is going to want to see how much talent is brewing at UCLA.”

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