The Felicity Church in New Orleans saw a different crowd than usual on Sunday night.
Textiles, apparel and merchandising seniors Annie Etzel, Alex Engelhardt and Maddie Louviere presented their fall/winter designs in the Emerging Designer Showcase at NOLA Fashion Week this weekend.
Etzel said her designs are normally evening gowns and cocktail wear, but she wanted to challenge herself by creating more casual wear for this collection.
Etzel said she gained inspiration for her collection from an imaginary muse — someone who is bold, glamorous and complex.
“More than anything, she’s passionate,” Etzel said.
Etzel’s collection includes gold as the focus both in the clothing and the model’s makeup. The garments are made in black and neutral tones like whites, greens and tans. The collection’s showing ended with a long sleeve gown with a plunging neckline in a black and dark green toned glitter fabric.
“[It’s] a little bit of everything [and] every style,” Etzel said.
Engelhardt said his inspiration came from robots and futurism.
Engelhardt’s collection focused on neutral colors of black, white and gray. He also used pops of yellow in the clothing and the model’s makeup, some with yellow highlights on their chin bones and all wearing yellow lipstick.
The garments include structured elements with shoulder pads, hoods and collars. The final look consisted of a black body suit with large shoulder pads.
Louviere said her collection concentrated on contrasts and draws from her experience of growing up with a twin sister who was very different from herself. She was also inspired by ballerinas, who Louviere said are strong but also mysterious.
“[The collection] is very feminine but with edgy twists,” Louviere said.
Her contrasting themes of dark and light, soft and hard came off in her color choices of black, white, light pink and dark burgundy.
Louviere said the collection is ready to wear, focusing on two pieces. She chose the simple colors with few prints but added an edge with leather details and gold zippers.
Her final piece was a long burgundy body suit with a sheer polyester skirt that creates the illusion of a gown. It also includes leather-trimmed sleeves and a high waistband.
Louviere, Engelhardt and Etzel all agreed the textiles, apparel and merchandising department challenged them to make things they wouldn’t normally make but also pushed them to make what they always imagined.