Students mix film with design at Threads fashion show
Students traveled through time amongst a collection of classic and modern films at the Threads Fashion Show.
A full house eagerly awaited the 15th annual Threads Fashion show in Plachta Auditorium in Warriner Hall Saturday to bring interpretations of movies to life.
“We just want everyone to see the talent all of our student designers have,” said Morgan Bregitzer, co-producer of the show. “This major is full of amazing, talented people, and being able to put it in a show and being one of the people to produce it ... it’s such a great honor to be able to showcase all of it.”
The Sturgis senior said this year’s fashion show was like no other, because she and Warren senior Lindsey Peters, the other co-producer, worked off the same vibe and wanted to make this event something bigger than just another fashion show.
“We wanted it to be something that really captivated the audience, which is why we had the screen and the crazy theme of movies,” Bregitzer said. “And we just wanted to see designers run with it. And I think we ultimately made this thing an experience rather than just a show.”
Ashley Pinter was one of 24 student designers featured in the show and chose to model her collection after the Disney classic 'Cinderella.'
“It’s always been my favorite movie since I was a little girl, and I love doing ball gowns and stuff,” the Burton senior said.
Pinter said she was inspired by the ballroom gowns and used a lot of tulle and satin when creating her designs.
During the presentation of her collection, Pinter showcased a modern Cinderella dress that was a shimmering light shade of blue. There was also a heart-shaped top sparkly white wedding dress that modeled after Cinderella’s very own.
Kristine Opaleski said this was her third year designing the show and calls the fashion show “a way to signify my growth as a designer” and what she’s learned throughout her classes.
“I was inspired by 'The Lion King,'” the Milan junior said. “I find the movie itself very majestic. It’s extremely moving. There (are) incredible themes I never caught on to as a kid, and every kid watches that movie and loves it, and when you get older, you love it for different reasons. And that’s what I wanted to personify.”
Throughout the show, Opaleski's designs consisted of abstract animal prints, woven leather and flowy dresses with natural and earthy tones.
CMU alum Kristin Lamarre participated in the Threads fashion show last year before she graduated. Lamarre said after seeing the fashion show, she’s ready to return.
“I was really excited about the theme this year,” the Auburn native said. “I just thought it was really, really cool. I’m really into movies, and I feel like I get a lot of my inspiration from it. So I was really excited to see what they all came up with.”
Lamarre said she loved 'The Black Swan' and 'Rock of Ages'-inspired designs, but her favorite was 'The Avengers.'
One of the designs that really stuck out from the collection was a smooth, long red and gold dress based on the superhero Iron Man.
“I really loved the movie,” Lamarre said. “I recently saw it, and I just think she did a good job depicting it. It was really powerful.”
Rochester senior Allison Pavla modeled in the fashion show.
She wore a peplum shirt, leather panel leggings and huge platform shoes. She was going for an "edgy" look for her roommate Chloe Scudder’s design.
“(Chloe used) 'The Dark Knight' as a theme, so we’re trying to have something very dark and angry-looking going through our heads so we can stay fierce," Pavla said.
Scudder chose "The Dark Knight" and tried to keep her collection cohesive by using shades of deep blues, gray, white and black. She mixed a lot of different fabrics and used the same color pallets, she said.
“It is more of an action movie; I tried to turn it into feminine but still kept a unique roughness to it, as well with leather and the softness of sheer fabric,” the Holland senior said.
CMU alum Samantha Tarpinian returned to Mount Pleasant to support her peers and see the show as well.
“The show was awesome,” the Novi native said. “Everyone did a phenomenal job. I had my favorites, of course. 'Dark Knight' was definitely one of them. 'Black Swan' was amazing, too.”
Tarpinian said she loved the short blue emerald dress of the 'Dark Knight' collection and loved how the designer added jewels to the dress.
“It’s something you can wear out like a cocktail dress,” she said. “And then, in 'Black Swan,' if you noticed that long (dress), it was kind of black, but inside was a champagne color; gorgeous dress. I would wear that to a formal or prom.”
