The Knowlton School of Architecture will give students a chance to express their creative sides Friday during its seventh-annual SERVitecture Fashion Shau.
Each year SERVitecture partners with Dress for Success Columbus to raise money during the Fashion Shau. Last year, it sold 350 tickets and raised $2,100 for Dress for Success.
Dress for Success is a national nonprofit that empowers women to become independent through access to professional clothing and career development tools.
Students from across the university, including nursing and zoology students, will create unconventional fashion designs and walk them down the runway. The main guideline for the designers is to create outfits from avant-garde recycled material.
“I believe this is a good creative outlet for architecture students,” said Marty Koelsch, president of SERVitecture. “It gives people a chance to design things that aren’t necessarily buildings anymore.”
A new feature on display Friday will be the addition of a second set. SERVitecture built the transformative set which incorporates performance art into the show. A team of people will come out during a point in the show and rearrange the set. This is the biggest and most expensive set to date for the Fashion Shau.
It’s also, Koelsch said, “our most ambitious set.”
Todd Gannon joined the architecture school this year as the new section head for architecture. As a welcome, the show has included Gannon into the judging panel of the show. He also will have his own award called the Section Head Award.
In addition to the Section Head Award, the judges panel chooses first, second and third place. The audience gets the chance to vote for its favorite outfit of the night as well.
The “trophy” that goes to first place is an architect T-square. A T-square is an architectural tool that is used to create right lines. SERVitecture spray paints the tool to make it look more than just an architecture tool.
Some students plan weeks in advance for their designs. However, due to unconventional materials and the worry of ruining them, participants wait until the week before the show to start executing their ideas.
“Last year I stayed up the whole night before the show,” said Danyaal Latif, a fourth-year in architecture. “I started making the outfit Thursday night.”
This time around, though, Latif started planning a little more in advance.
The Fashion Shau will take place in the Knowlton School of Architecture main space at 6:30 p.m. Friday. Tickets will be $7 at the door.
