by Kiki McCalla
During the SCAD fashion show I had the opportunity to interview three SCAD Atlanta designers featured in the show about their collections and what inspired them. Overall, stories of family ghosts, architecture and mechanical engineering.
Leah Rama M.F.A. Fashion
What asked what inspired her, Rama replied, “Well, my collection was inspired by my family ghost and the stories surrounding her. I started researching her story and researching ghosts in literature, art, movies and music. And it’s strange they’re everywhere and even though I’m not necessarily into ghost stuff, it’s been a really fantastic exploration of culture and what our core values are. I’ve used that and applied it to my designs.
I asked Leah what the bright color of her collection went with the dark, neutrality associated with ghosts to which she replied, “[At first] I started out thinking I would design this very Valentino-esque beautiful, white, ethereal sheer collection and through my research I’ve found that that’s not really what ghost are to us. They’re kind of humanity at its core and its most saturated. They’re our most romantic, most desperate and most vengeful parts so they’re almost like not less alive but more alive in terms of those strong qualities. So I kind of discovered a different way to communicate what they are.”
Paige Kim M.A. Fashion
As opposed to Rama’s family ghost inspiring her designs, Kim’s style took a lot away from her interest in architecture, “I drew the shape of a building upside-down and then I got a 2D element. Throughout my whole collection [you can see] 2D elements: one could be the shoulder, the pockets [or] all the printing on the garment.”
Andrea van Hintum B.F.A. Fashion
Like Paige, Andrea drew inspiration from 3D, “My inspiration was mechanical engineering. All of my panels, seams and sculpture pieces reflected off of different shapes and lines on different machinery. And with a sculpture minor, I really wanted to incorporate 3D printing because I was fascinated by the whole idea that everything we have was once digital before physical.”
When asked how the earth-toned dresses mixed with the structured feel of 3D, Andrea said, “All of the fabric I used is industrial fabric, [specifically] nylon with a silver plate. All of my fabrics have stainless steel, blends of silver, nickel, copper which reflect back to that concept of machinery.”
Photos by LuAnne DeMeo
