Featuring designers Amanda Nervig, Yuming Weng, Teresa Field, James Thai, Leah Aripotch, Heather Marie Scholl, Chenxi Li, Heather McDonald, and Qian Xie.
Learn more about the Academy of Art University’s fashion program here.
Tag Archives: Fall 2013
Heather Marie Scholl Academy of Art University Fall 2013 Runway
Heather Marie Scholl explored the nature of gender, race and sexuality and the role it plays in fashion which, for all its political points, makes for interesting design. How can a designer visually express a conceptual idea, one that is at dual odds with itself (pain & glamour)? We see a collection that is bright and clever with a look that seems to borrow from the 80’s, the kind of hard cheerfulness that can mark a decade. The collection works to make the viewer ask questions and seek answers which reminds us that fashion is indeed art.
From the press release:
Heather Marie Scholl was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. She attended Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington where she completed a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Race, Gender, and Sexuality. Scholl earned her Master of Fine Arts degree in Fashion and Knitwear Design from Academy of Art
University, and her Fall 2013 collection brings together her seemingly separate fields of study. Through her garments, she sought to explore the often sexually obsessed nature of queer culture, and the duality of pain and glamour that can come with it. She constructed her collection from wool, cotton and wool knit, and
embellished pieces with glass beads.
Photos by Randy Brooke/Getty
Chenxi Li Academy of Art University Fall 2013 Runway
Give me a lush fur cape in midnight blue and a jaunty leather cap (can I get my hands on that?!) and I would be happy. Designer Chenxi Li revisits fashion from the 1950’s with a nod to sailors and their happy dames with a dash of old world glamour. In an unexpected twist, her thick, knitted sweaters were inspired by traditional Chinese armor.
From the press release:
Chenxi Li is from Zhengzhou City in the Henan Province of China, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Animation from the Nanjing Arts Institute before coming to Academy of Art University to pursue her graduate degree in Fashion Design. Li’s Fall 2013 collection takes inspiration from fashion of the 1950s,
featuring exaggerated silhouettes and voluminous shoulders and sleeves, while her knitwear pieces were modeled after traditional Chinese armor. Her collection features several types of wool, cashmere knits, and rabbit fur.
Photos by Randy Brooke/Getty
Janine M. Villa, Amanda Nervig Academy of Art University Fall 2013 Runway
Prints! Prints! We love prints. Especially if they’re mixed patterns with a Nordic feel. It’s great when you can see a designer having fun with her work, and it looks like designer Janine M. Villa did just that. Her background in graphic design shows and she’s not afraid to mix polka dots with waffle snowflake prints, while still keeping a lady-like, structured silhouette. The chunky knits were the creation of designer Amanda Nervig who collaborated with Janine M. Villa on this collection. Amanda looked to the richness of Welsh blankets to add texture and dimension without the expected bulk. Their meeting of the minds produced a fun, quirky and totally balanced collection
From the press release:
Janine M. Villa hails from Toms River, New Jersey. She attended Boston University, earning her undergraduate degree in Graphic Design with minors in Business and Art History. While earning her Master of Fine Arts degree in Fashion Design at Academy of Art University, she also worked as an Apparel Design
Intern at Rebecca Minkoff in New York, and as a Product Development Coordinator at Inspirare in San Francisco. Villa took inspiration from the vintage Welsh blankets she had collected, and built her collection around their rich textures and colors. She kept her silhouettes simple and clean, looking to school uniforms
and tailored men’s wear, and allowed the beauty of the blankets to remain the focus. She collaborated with knitwear designer Amanda Nervig, who designed knit accessories and sweaters for the collection.
Amanda Nervig grew up in Des Moines, Iowa, and attended the Kansas City Art Institute, earning her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Fiber, before coming to the Academy of Art University to pursue her Master’s Degree in Knitwear Design. She interned with Donna Karan in New York. Taking Villa’s lead, Nervig was inspired by the colors and patterns found in the vintage Welsh blankets, seeking to add depth to the collection as a whole with her chunky knits and unexpected embellishments.
Photos by Randy Brooke/Getty
Heather McDonald Academy of Art University Fall 2013 Runway
Heather McDonald used the 1927 cult film Metropolis as a reference for her collection. Merging the precision of technology and the organic feel of fur and see-through lace, she has created a strong first collection. The Fashion and Knitwear graduate paired strong shoulders with soft peplum shapes to represent a bold feminine presence.
From the press release:
Heather McDonald is originally from Calgary in Alberta, Canada and attended the University of Toronto, earning an Honors Bachelor Degree in Biology and Anthropology. She enrolled in Academy of Art University to study for her graduate degree in Fashion and Knitwear Design, and has worked as a knitwear intern at VPL in New York City during summer and winter breaks. For her Fall 2013 collection, McDonald wasinspired by Fritz Lang’s 1927 film Metropolis, exploring the relationship between humans and technology, demonstrated by the angular silhouettes and contoured knitwear seen throughout the collection.