Models primping hair and makeup, organizing garment orders and testing sound and lighting is just a taste of some of the chaos backstage at every fashion show. 
Textiles, apparel design and merchandising students have been planning for the fashion show mayhem since the beginning of the semester. “Luminous,” the department’s ninth annual fashion show, will be held May 13 in the Student Union Royal Cotillion Ballroom, with a VIP cocktail hour starting at 5:30 p.m. General admission doors will open at 6:40 p.m., and the show will begin at 7 p.m.
For TAM students, the show has been a heavy focal point all semester. TAM senior and senior fashion show chair Bonnie Campbell said every department major has the opportunity to be involved in the show, but the head organization is split into fashion show chairs and committee heads. With a senior and junior fashion show chair and seven committee heads representing hair and makeup, garment, backstage, models, front of house, sponsorship and venue, organization has been key to make “Luminous” light up. 
“We’ve learned to really work together,” said Fashion Association at LSU public relations chair and TAM senior Kristin Ament. “We’re constantly emailing each other, texting each other like, ‘Is this OK? Has this been done?’ We definitely have that checks and balances going on.” 
FA at LSU president and TAM senior Jill Barbetta said this is the first year the fashion show’s theme is being taken to heart. “Luminous” will be showcased through hanging Christmas lights and natural, handmade decorations, including textiles like twill. 
The show also will have an elongated runway so designers can soak up as much recognition for their designs as possible.  
“You work so hard all semester or however long you’ve started the design process, and then it walks for what? Ten seconds,” Campbell said. “So, what we’ve done is elongated the runway to have that moment.”
This also is the first year the show will be held on campus instead of the usual downtown venue, and it will include a cocktail hour. Ament said this is the first year the College of Agriculture  Dean Bill Richardson has given money to the show and sponsored it. Any added financial worries were taken care of by sponsorship money and money raised through FA at LSU events. 
Campbell said holding the event in the Student Union helped Richardson’s vision of having the event going above and beyond become a reality. 
“That means being in the center of LSU,” Ament said. “Also, having access to the ballroom is such a difference to what we had downtown because we have lots of space, and we have the ability to work with LSU Dining to have the cocktail hour.”
Amid the heavy planning for the event itself, students also needed to focus on their own individual designs. The show will include designs from 25 designers: 10 seniors, 14 juniors and one graduate student. 
The designs span multiple textile and style elements. Juniors were able to submit collections of one to three pieces, while seniors and graduate students could submit three to eight. 
Ament’s collection consists of three pieces all with the theme of French Bocage. Her garments are digitally fabric-based, which she said is a new and different design technique. 
Ament has abstract watercolors of flowers and grasses on the skirts of her dresses. She said she took those watercolor patterns and put them into the computer to enhance them and put them in a digital format. From there, she printed them onto the fabric. 
Barbetta’s garments are branded as her Bohemian bridal collection. She said she’s been inspired by astrology and how planets can affect a person’s mood and characteristics. She plays with natural elements in her clothing with chiffons and free-flowing silhouettes. 
Campbell said her collection was originally inspired by the strength of a cypress tree. She correlated that strength into her garments by showcasing an all-white collection.
Campbell’s trademark is her handmade flower crowns, and she did not forget them with this collection. A crown will polish off every look as the models grace the runway. 
For TAM juniors Grace Chetta and LeAnn Constantine, their collections are composed of pieces they’ve constructed for class projects. Constantine said one professor had the class design a garment based on a building and another on a company. She said, unlike seniors and having design restrictions, it allows for them to discover their design style. 
She said Constantine’s style is very Grecian, while Chetta’s designs have a ’70s flair. 
Being pushed to work as if they’ve already entered the industry is something all the women agreed is a pivotal tool to their career. Campbell said the hectic environment they have in their classroom space mirrors what they should expect post-graduation. While these students have continued to take the heat, some students have been burned. 
“Let’s just say we started with 20 design students,” Campbell said. “Now, our senior class is 10, and it’s like, these are the ones that want to be in this.”
The women agreed that while designing, they slightly lose sight of the end and are only focused on the present. But, once that final garment graces the runway, they said they see that it was worth it and are ready to dive right back in. 
Ament said after textile selections, patternmaking and sewing selections, it’s all about the finished product. 
“After the chaos goes through and you finally see everything put together, it’s so satisfying,” Ament said.  
You can reach Meg Ryan on Twitter @The_MegRyan.
 

Gallery • 7 Photos

Charles Champagne

Textiles, apparel design and merchandising students prepare garmets Tuesday, April 28, 2015 for the department’s ninth annual fashion show titled ‘Luminous”