The fashion design program at Rowan College at Burlington County had its annual spring show on May 8 at the Cherry Hill Mall, where 31 looks headed down the runway in 90 garments.
The show’s designers included both students and Rowan alumni. A few students collaborated on a theme for the show, Dollhouse Chaos. The event also featured original and curated collections from handmade African fabrics. Students from Burlington County Institute of Technology also participated.
“This was a very, very talented group,” said program coordinator Lisa Steinberg. “We pushed them and they accepted the challenge … Their collections are just spectacular.”
Outside of the collaborative collection for Dollhouse Chaos, student Jayden Cohen-Boyce had two collections for the show. He designed four looks for one of his collections, three for the other and one piece for Dollhouse Chaos. That piece started out as one thing but ended up differently. He originally wanted to design something that included the playing card theme, but after he looked at his materials, he gravitated to polka dots.
Cohen-Boyce compared that to the white rabbit from “Alice in Wonderland.” As for his other collections, one – called “Hit Me Hard and Soft” – represents vulnerability but also self-sovereignty, playing with the fact that the world is getting more dangerous and that the violence is getting closer to home, he explained.
Cohen-Boyce’s second collection, titled Les Smokin, is a play on tuxedos; picture a classic, elegant look. As a designer in the space, he has learned a lot. Because he understands the purpose of schooling, he noted, he wanted to play with different materials, try different techniques and use the spring show as a chance to try things out.
The creative process starts out with a mood board, finding images, pulling ideas and throwing things at the wall. Slowly, he explained, one sees things morph and change as you talk about specifics.
“When we’re in the idea stage, it’s anything goes,” Cohen-Boyce acknowledged, “but when you start talking about specifics, it’s like, ‘Okay, I want this to be a skirt. How do I want this skirt to wear? Do I want this side to be like this? Do I want this side to wear like that? How can we pull in the theme?
” … It’s really about pulling and tugging and creating attention even within myself, as a designer of editing vigorously but also keeping the heart of what was originally there.”
Freshman Jenna Nolan modeled the collection of Nisa Frias, who will graduate from Rowan next year with her bachelor’s in marketing. Both Nolan and Frias admire the fashion program’s professors and how they push students to fuel their dreams.
Nolan was nervous her first semester, but now all she wants to do is spend her time on campus. The professors’ support, Frias offered, amplifies her and her fellow students’ passion for fashion.
“Lisa really is so passionate, and she rubs off on everyone,” Frias explained of Steinberg. “We spend a lot of our time – sleepless nights – to make this (the fashion show) happen, and I really do love that they have this … because not a lot of colleges have that, or even universities.
“So it’s really impressive to me that they have this and that they also give you options.”
“Even though it’s my first year, the professors really push you to do well and help fuel that dream that you have,” Nolan pointed out. “This is what we love to do.”
The original theme for the spring show was Ace of Spades, based on a concept of medieval times with red, white and plaid colors. But Frias, who’s originally from the Dominican Republic, has always been obsessed with polka dots and wanted to incorporate that pattern into her designs.
After showing her swatches and mood board to Steinberg, who loved the influence of the polka dots, the theme changed into Dollhouse Chaos, because the students wanted to keep that quirky, medieval vibe with the exaggerated designs of the polka dots. The inspiration for Frias’ collection also came from her late father, who always praised her for her drive in fashion.
“That pushes me to create something that I have never seen before myself, and to embrace him, even though he’s no longer with me anymore,” she lamented, “but that is what pushes me further to not be average … I want to be the furthest from that.”
For Dollhouse Chaos, Frias, who also walked in the show, created a two-piece outfit she wanted to keep feminine. It can be worn either as pants or a skirt and for her, making women feel powerful is the goal, so she’ll always go for something that pops out.
Aside from that collection, Frias designed three original resort-wear inspired pieces for the show that incorporated different colors.
“What makes it so successful is that not only does it look literally amazing, but I feel exactly how she wanted the consumer or the mood of the collection to feel,” she said.
“I feel very beautiful and feminine and like a porcelain doll,” Nolan said of Frias’ clothes. “That’s exactly what she wanted, and I think that’s what also makes it so great … This is what we’re passionate about and that’s how I know I’m in the right field, because I don’t think I could ever get burnt out from doing this.
“Everything is different every single day – and I love that.”
Jayden Cohen-Boyce (left) with alumni Emily McKenna and Nisa Frias as they prep for the Rowan College at Burlington County annual spring show.
Alumni Victoria Schade and freshman Emily McKenna also featured their collections in the show, with Schade’s inspired by business wear with a twist, focused on denim and a lightweight cotton. McKenna’s three-piece collection focused on the solar system with bright colors with a futuristic, space theme.
“I love to get inspiration from the world around me,” McKenna related, “and not just trying to recreate things I see. And I like to take the ideas of things and turn them into clothes and work it into a wearable design, and then get into sketching and patterning and sewing.”
Jayden Cohen-Boyce (left) looks on with Nisa Frias as Victoria Schade models a dress.
