Student Fashion Designers Catwalk to Golden 1 Center

The State HornetBy Sami SotoSeven student fashion designers were chosen to show their original eco-friendly designs in Student Fashion Association’ annual runway competition that will take place at the Golden 1 Center for the first time ever on Wednesday, June 28, 2017.Last year, SFA hosted the event in the Union Ballroom. After networking with Green Sports Alliance, a nonprofit organization that promotes sustainable and healthy lifestyles through sports teams, 2017’s show will take part within the organization’s yearly summit in front of more than 300 people at the city’s largest stage.“This year we started planning right at the beginning of the semester,” said Dong Shen, faculty advisor of SFA. “This will be our biggest fashion show in history.”The selection process began in October through a rigorous screening process by a committee. Fifteen designers applied and the list was narrowed down to seven.Each applicant was required submit a portfolio of their previous works and a design board that showed sketches and inspirations.“I put in a lot of hard work and effort,” said Desiree Vasquez, junior fashion merchandising and design major, who will show her creations at her first ever fashion show. “It took me months to figure out what I wanted to do.”All designers will produce four to seven pieces in each collection revolving around the theme of sustainability and sports functionality.Designers’ influences include softball patterns, Rihanna’s athletic chic style, and more.For Vasquez, she said she found inspiration from natural occurrences on Earth, while another designer, based on the sketch, was inspired by dirty thunderstorms — a phenomenon of lightning that strikes during a volcano eruption from the ashy, mushroom clouds.“I pulled all the colors from things that make the Earth so great,” said Vasquez of her sketches and inspirations.A company called Renew Merchandise will donate fabric to the designers, although they are encouraged to use recycled and eco-friendly materials to go with the theme and mission of the show.Read the full story here.Register for the 2017 Summit in Sacramento here.