Trend Setters
By Daily Bruin Staff
May 12, 2002 9:00 p.m.
MANDY WHITING/Daily Bruin
By Sara Mortimer
Daily Bruin Contributor
[email protected]
UCLA students get to be too sexy for their shirts this Tuesday,
as student designers and models shake it on the catwalk in Ackerman
Grand Ballroom.
Fashion and Student Trends, a student-run organization directed
by UCLA’s Career Center, will deliver fresh ideas and popular
trends to their Spring fashion show, “Erection.”
FAST was initiated by fourth-year history and sociology student
Larrin Marrisett. Unsatisfied with the few outlets for fashion
design and business practices on campus, he decided to take matters
into his own hands.
“In my third year here as an undergraduate, I felt a
little bit out of place because I wanted to go into the specific
area that makes fashion business,” said Marrisett during a
rehearsal in Ackerman Union. “Since I had this issue, I
figured there would be at least 40 or 50 other students who felt
like me.”
As Marrisett recalled the beginnings of FAST, an eclectic group
of student designers, models and coordinators shifted about the
room to recordings of loud beats and guitars, fine-tuning and
preparing for the upcoming show.
From this show, Marrisett hopes to generate a buzz on campus,
not solely for entertainment, but also to attract more students who
want a future in the fashion industry. Although he is graduating in
June to pursue his entrepreneurial goals, he maintains a vision for
the organization.
“Ideally, maybe three, four, five years from now, we would
like this to be a Spring Sing for fashion. All student-run, with
one major sponsor,” Marrisett said.
The upcoming show will exhibit student designs, as well as
clothing contributed by sponsors such as Sergio Valente, Steve
Madden and Puma. Many of the sponsors are providing merchandise to
be given away to the audience.
Third-year sociology student Devon Reese, who heads the external
affairs of FAST, believes that student designers are contributing
flavor and originality to trends that already exist.
“You have to have a little twist,” said Reese.
“You have to have something that sets you apart form the next
designer. You have to have something that’s edgy. And I think
that’s what our student designers are bringing to the
table.”
Elena Keys, a third-year sociology student and one of the
student designers to be featured in the upcoming show, said she
respects people who take fashion risks.
“I like going to boutiques and getting stuff that no one
else has,” said Keys. “I like to go a little wild, go
out there on the edge.”
Keys said she was inspired at a football game when she realized
there were no sports jerseys suitable for the female frame. Her
line, strewn about the table at the rehearsal, consists of jerseys
that are altered to accentuate the female torso.
MANDY WHITING/Daily Bruin
Rhinestones spell out names like Clippers, Sixers and UCLA. Thin
drawstrings loop down each side of the garment, adding more curve
on the waist when they are tied.
According to Keys, her rhinestones gleam under the lights at
games, along with her line of studded armbands.
“It is an art form. You’re decorating your body,
your body is a canvas,” Keys said.
Second-year graphic design student Chad Bell sat alone watching
models make their way through the aisle, trying to find the right
one to wear his clothes for the show. Bell has been designing
women’s fashion since his senior year in high school and has
recently begun sewing his own clothing rather than using a
seamstress.
“My line is very classy, very conservative,” said
Bell. “I don’t like to show skin. If a woman can cover
up and still look very sexy, then I’ve done my
job.”
Bell said that fashion design goes beyond the mere concept of
clothing.
“You’re creating something that makes people want to
get dressed in the morning,” said Bell. “I’m
trying to go for a lifestyle. And you need to design a lifestyle
that you can maintain, that your client can maintain.”
His sketchbook contains long, draping black skirts and black
blouses.
“Black is the color of society,” said Bell.
“It’s the color of honesty, it’s the color of
prestige. It accentuates the body in a way that no other color can.
I don’t find anything more sexy on a woman than black. And
I’d lean towards something that’s classy rather than
something trashy or trampy or mainstream. I love you, Christina
Aguilera, but go get a new stylist!”
Bell, Keys, Reese and Marrisett all agree that the fashion
industry is a competitive field to break into, requiring great
ideas, ambition and networking.
“There are countless numbers of talented fashion
designers,” said Marrisett. “Most of them don’t
have the marketing or advertising background.”
He concluded that fashion is an art inspired by reality.
“It all starts with your idea,” Marrisett said.
“More often than not, you see art as imitating life. The
designers are out there getting their ideas from the
streets.”
FASHION: “Erection” will be running
7 p.m. on May 14 in Ackerman Grand Ballroom. Admission is free. For
more information, visit http://www.studentgroups.ucla.edu/fast.
