photo: Nina Sage
The smorgasboard went to overload Thursday night as seven, count ‘em, seven designers affiliated with Oregon State University marched their wares down the runway. Because there were so many designers, and at many stages in their careers, from established to current students, the themes were all over the map. There was post-apocalyptic stuff, garden party dresses, gowns, and attire ready for your next trip to Burning Man or the souk. The result was a muddled sense of substantial promise in need of refinement.
design: Melissa Ward. photo: Nina Sage
The show�s fish-nor-fowl vibe was underscored from the start by the designs of Melissa Ward, who showed variations on a tightly executed theme involving a red and blue tartan, white cotton, and bootlaces. Bootlaces, of the construction boot sort, played into each outfit, usually on a corset, but on one piece as a less functional placket right above a tartan wool bow. The effect was feminine but tough, likely because of the associations of plaid wool with Pendleton.
Diem Le gets the nod for best in show, as her collection struck an excellent balance between innovation and wearability, and she stuck to her conceptual guns throughout. Her shirts, skirts, jackets, and pants were all clearly part her collection, and while every piece had some of her signature fringe or appliqu�, it was never overwhelming. Bonus points, too, for the perfect symmetry of the fringe on one brown jacket.
Marianne Egan, an OSU instructor, displayed her mastery of the corset in several lengths with a toile print, as well as a very well done corset jacket. She must have taught the course, because four of the seven designers featured corsets in one form or another. She also sent a series of well-executed black dresses down the runway which gave a sense of how Morticia Adams might have looked had she been a Mod. These all-black dresses featured tightly constructed tops which slowly unraveled to strips of fabric around the ankles.
Lenore Semperviren was easily one of the more outlandish designers. Claiming inspiration from a trip to Morocco, she showed what could best be described as Orientalist costuming, with velvet and brocaded vests, pointed slippers, peasant skirts and the first pair of genie pants I�ve seen since I put away the MC Hammer for good (the genie pants were well constructed, though). Her clothes took on a more tribal aesthetic when not hewing so strictly to her brief, and this is where they were most notable. A cotton skirt with a tree pattern and a pair of yellow patchwork pants with the work �coexist� on the back of one leg were the most impressive items of her collection.
Morgan Maier, who showed under the name Morgan Tove, was the other designer operating at an extreme; her looks owed much to punk and many had a post-apocalyptic vibe. She was also the only designer to use screenprinting, best shown on a series of fleece hoods, and this was of a piece with her collection which involved a lot of reconstituted denim and jersey. Her showstopper was a pair of looks, all deconstructed denim and leather jackets, that formed manes around the two models wearing them. Her most impressive piece was a black and white striped gown suitable for Winona Ryder�s character in Beetlejuice to wear to prom.
design: Alaina Shae. photo: Nina Sage
Alaina Shea dealt mostly with gowns, showing several suitable for garden parties, but her best piece was a green silk jacket with tapered ruching at the bottom. Tonja Schreiber joined the Corset Club with a carnival-striped look followed by one in jacquard. OSU alumna Laura Nash, designing under the Gowns by Laura name finished off the evening with a collection of 30s and 40s inspired gowns and dresses, frequently with a little twist such as an asymmetrical hemline.
It is clear that OSU and its graduates have something to bring to the table. There were many ideas on display last night, and many of the designs were quite technically proficient, but a number of the designers were either all over the map within a collection or so set on a concept that they sometimes missed chances to come up with something new. Stay tuned.
–Will Levin
updated Saturday October 28 2006 12:00
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