School of Apparel Design & Development

Congratulations to Ha-Vy Le! She was invited to showcase her design and sewing skills in this unique event. Below is her experience and process.

Ha-Vy backstage with her Model Carmelita Juan.

“Fresh Fit Fashion Show is an annual event hosted by University of Washington Hip Hop Student Association (UWHHSA). This was their first year showcasing student designers and I was one of two to showcase a piece. The fashion show was on February 17th, 2017 from 5:30 to 8:30. There were vendors, dance/music performances, a runway, giveaways and more. I got involved because a lot of my friends are a part of the UWHHSA organization and when they decided they wanted to showcase student designers, they invited me about 3 weeks prior to the event date. I told them yes even though I knew classes in the program were picking up and getting really busy, (for example, the shawl collar + tech pack was due the day before the show!!) but I thought of it as an opportunity to really challenge myself and put myself out there and see what I could come up with.”

“I made a leather mock neck layering piece. I feel like I really challenged myself with construction because I’ve never worked with leather before. I also challenged myself with pattern making because it was my first time trying to use a bodice and turn it into a design that I wanted and figuring out how to execute it. I used a basic size 6 bodice and used it to make a first pattern, then used the first pattern to drape onto a dress form and really developed my pattern from my limited to no knowledge of draping. I’ve never draped before, but I took what I learned in first quarter about fitting gore skirts and applied it here, so I just used the slash and spread method on the dress form and traced what I ended up with onto paper and used it as the basic shape of what I wanted it to look like. Also, we were just starting to learn about collars, so I used what we learned about the mandarin collar and applied it to the piece as well.”

“I’m really satisfied with what I made and I think the styling really honed in on who I am as a designer as well. I found that project to be super fun, but also a great and challenging learning experience. If they invited me to do it again next year, I would because it gives me the experience that can’t really be taught in a class setting, so the more I’m doing something and challenging myself to try new things, the better I’ll get and the more I’ll learn.”

PHOTOS// CAEAN COUTO

MODEL // Carmelita Juan