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Chenxi Li Academy of Art University Fall 2013 Runway

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Give me a lush fur cape in midnight blue and a jaunty leather cap (can I get my hands on that?!) and I would be happy. Designer Chenxi Li revisits fashion from the 1950’s with a nod to sailors and their happy dames with a dash of old world glamour. In an unexpected twist, her thick, knitted sweaters were inspired by traditional Chinese armor.

From the press release:

Chenxi Li is from Zhengzhou City in the Henan Province of China, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Animation from the Nanjing Arts Institute before coming to Academy of Art University to pursue her graduate degree in Fashion Design. Li’s Fall 2013 collection takes inspiration from fashion of the 1950s,
featuring exaggerated silhouettes and voluminous shoulders and sleeves, while her knitwear pieces were modeled after traditional Chinese armor. Her collection features several types of wool, cashmere knits, and rabbit fur.

Photos by Randy Brooke/Getty

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Janine M. Villa, Amanda Nervig Academy of Art University Fall 2013 Runway

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Prints! Prints! We love prints. Especially if they’re mixed patterns with a Nordic feel. It’s great when you can see a designer having fun with her work, and it looks like designer Janine M. Villa did just that. Her background in graphic design shows and she’s not afraid to mix polka dots with waffle snowflake prints, while still keeping a lady-like, structured silhouette. The chunky knits were the creation of designer Amanda Nervig who collaborated with Janine M. Villa on this collection. Amanda looked to the richness of Welsh blankets to add texture and dimension without the expected bulk. Their meeting of the minds produced a fun, quirky and totally balanced collection

 

From the press release:

Janine M. Villa hails from Toms River, New Jersey. She attended Boston University, earning her undergraduate degree in Graphic Design with minors in Business and Art History. While earning her Master of Fine Arts degree in Fashion Design at Academy of Art University, she also worked as an Apparel Design
Intern at Rebecca Minkoff in New York, and as a Product Development Coordinator at Inspirare in San Francisco. Villa took inspiration from the vintage Welsh blankets she had collected, and built her collection around their rich textures and colors. She kept her silhouettes simple and clean, looking to school uniforms
and tailored men’s wear, and allowed the beauty of the blankets to remain the focus. She collaborated with knitwear designer Amanda Nervig, who designed knit accessories and sweaters for the collection.

Amanda Nervig grew up in Des Moines, Iowa, and attended the Kansas City Art Institute, earning her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Fiber, before coming to the Academy of Art University to pursue her Master’s Degree in Knitwear Design. She interned with Donna Karan in New York. Taking Villa’s lead, Nervig was inspired by the colors and patterns found in the vintage Welsh blankets, seeking to add depth to the collection as a whole with her chunky knits and unexpected embellishments.

Photos by Randy Brooke/Getty

fashion

Heather McDonald Academy of Art University Fall 2013 Runway

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Heather McDonald used the 1927 cult film Metropolis as a reference for her collection. Merging the precision of technology and the organic feel of fur and see-through lace, she has created a strong first collection. The Fashion and Knitwear graduate paired strong shoulders with soft peplum shapes to represent a bold feminine presence.

From the press release:

Heather McDonald is originally from Calgary in Alberta, Canada and attended the University of Toronto, earning an Honors Bachelor Degree in Biology and Anthropology. She enrolled in Academy of Art University to study for her graduate degree in Fashion and Knitwear Design, and has worked as a knitwear intern at VPL in New York City during summer and winter breaks. For her Fall 2013 collection, McDonald wasinspired by Fritz Lang’s 1927 film Metropolis, exploring the relationship between humans and technology, demonstrated by the angular silhouettes and contoured knitwear seen throughout the collection.

fashion

Qian Xie Academy of Art University Fall 2013 Runway

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We saw soft gris (grey) tones and structured silhouettes for designer Qian Xie’s creations. She cites the study of light as an inspiration point. If that’s the case, then her looks remind us of the entry of dawn and fog and white cloudy skies.

From The Press release:

Qian Xie is originally from the Chongqing Province of China, where she attended the Southwest University of Political Science and Law, earning her undergraduate degree in Legal Studies. After working as an assistant to a fashion editor at New Woman Press in China, Xie decided to pursue a career in fashion and
enrolled in Academy of Art University’s graduate Fashion Design program. During her time as a student, she earned design awards including the Vitamin Water Dress Competition in 2011 and took first place in the Evening Wear category at St. Vincent de Paul San Francisco’s annual Discarded to Divine fundraiser. Forher Fall 2013 collection, Xie was inspired by the ways in which natural light creates shadows in interior spaces at different times of day. Her designs focus on geometric silhouettes and play with notions of negative space.

fashion

Teresa Field, James Thai, Leah Aripotch Academy of Art University Fall 2013 Runway

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From the Press Release:

Teresa Field was born and raised in the Bay Area suburb of Los Altos, and attended Stanford University, completing her undergraduate degree in Art History. While earning her Masters of Fine Art Degree in Fashion Design at Academy of Art University, she also worked as a design assistant at Gr.Dano in San
Francisco and spent six months as the assistant to the Head Designer at Diane von Furstenberg in NYC. Field’s Fall 2013 collection was inspired by artistic representations of the human body, including graphic representations of human anatomy and musculature, as well as process sketches from H.R. Giger’s “Alien”.
She collaborated with Textile Designer James Thai, who created custom leather textiles for the collection, and jewelry designer Leah Aripotch.

James Thai grew up in Danville, California just 30 minutes away from San Francisco. After graduating from Monte Vista High School, he attended Academy of Art University’s Pre-College Program before enrolling in the School of Fashion’s undergraduate Textile Design program. Over the summer, Thai worked
as a product development intern at Ralph Lauren in New York City, where his Creative Intern Project was selected for presentation to the company’s senior board members. He created custom leather textiles for Teresa Field’s collection, burning the leather to create blended imagery of flora and fauna.

Leah Aripotch was born and raised in Montauk, New York and moved to San Francisco to attend Academy of Art University and earn her Bachelor of Fine Art degree in Sculpture. She collaborated with Teresa Field and James Thai, creating jewelry and embellishments for the collection. Aripotch was inspired
by the work of her collaborators, incorporating themes from their work into her own. She was particularlyinterested in the mixture of structural geometric shapes with more organic elements, and focused her collection on the figure of the snake. She cast her pieces in bronze, brass, and copper metals.

Photos by Randy Brooke/Getty