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Class in the Spotlight
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Students form partnerships linking architecture and fashion
 Architecture student Erica Leffelman drew inspiration for her geological designs from the stones used in fashion student Peter Cooney’s clothing collection, which will be unveiled at the fashion show May 19. By Monique Bos Published: Friday, May 18, 2007 A collaboration between two Savannah College of Art and Design courses has allowed students in fashion and architecture — seemingly disparate disciplines — to find connections between their fields and interact creatively. The idea for the quarter-long project was born when architecture professor LaRaine Montgomery read about “Skin + Bones: Parallel Practices in Fashion and Architecture,” an exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, last fall. “I began to think about what could possibly develop with my spring Architecture Studio III,” she said. “The course focuses on structures and creative expression.” She contacted fashion professor Jacqueline Keuler, who is teaching Senior Collection III — the class in which senior fashion students complete their collections for the college’s fashion show, to be held May 19. Keuler agreed that an interdisciplinary project would benefit students in both fields. “On the first day of spring quarter, I brought my architecture students over [to Eckburg Hall], and each of the fashion designers presented their collection and talked about their concepts, the framework and what their collection is all about,” Montgomery explained. “We let the architecture students absorb that, then we had an open session where individuals could talk. Then they partnered up, and throughout the whole quarter they’ve been working together one on one.” She emphasized to her students the idea of “gesamtkunstwerk” — a German word that means “total work of art.” The architecture students’ assignment is to develop plans for a flagship store based on their partner’s collection and concepts. As an intermediate step, they created a chair — moving from plans to a life-size piece — that could go in the store. Architecture student Erica Leffelman based her structural designs on the stones fashion student Peter Cooney uses in his garments. “We first talked about how he would like people to experience his boutique,” Leffelman explained. Their conversation included themes of layering, wrapping the body, experiencing the present time and geology. “It’s been really great to have the opportunity to interpret someone else’s concepts and ideas … and to interpret his inspiration into architecture,” she said. Cooney said he is impressed with how well Leffelman has done that. “She comes up with all these great ideas based on what she’s seen,” he said. “Everything she’s done is perfect, very congruous with all my philosophies and my work. It’s a match made in heaven.” In fact, the duo’s collaboration has extended beyond the assignment; they are working together to produce jewelry as well. Alize Rostent’s collection focuses on concepts of fragility and temporality, so architecture student Anna Sampson has incorporated those ideas into her structural plans. At the start of their collaboration, Rostent gave Sampson all of the materials, notes and sketches she used to develop her collection, providing her partner with insights into her thought processes. “Things being fragile makes them very important,” Sampson explained. “She uses a lot of really delicate fabrics, and I used Plexiglass, shattered glass and transparent concrete in my chair and store plans.” She took the concept of a skeleton, which provides structure to Rostent’s ethereal designs, as a basis for her building ideas, and she used the Fibonacci sequence of numbers in her Plexiglass chair, which would be suspended from the store’s ceiling to give users the experience of floating, she said. “It’s wonderful how her ideas are exactly what I wanted in terms of concept,” Rostent said. “The things she’s come up with are right on the money.” Fashion students Chelsea Cook and Ginny Branch — who operate a business called Year and a Day — are working together on their senior collection, which is based on circles. “Everything is a circle — pants, dress, shirt, hat,” explained Cook. “A lot of our clothes are very stylable; you can wear them many different ways.” “We want a wide variety of girls to feel like they can relate to our clothing,” said Branch. “Fashion is so much about having fun, and our work is suited to different personalities.” Architecture student Missy Carter incorporated that versatility into the chair, which she created from recycled plotter tubes. “The whole chair is basically a mat that can be rolled out and sat on, or a bed,” she said. “The idea is changeability, manipulability, and the concept of circles creating different aspects of the piece.” For the store plans, Carter said she wants to emphasize the idea of sacred space within a circle, and she also hopes to create playful movement throughout the building. “Our designs try to take something that seems simple and make it so clever,” said Branch. “[Carter] did such a good job at that.” According to both professors, the project — the first of its kind — has indeed been successful. The students have discovered common areas between their disciplines, have developed working relationships with each other and have gained new respect for one another’s work. “They’re very impressed by each other,” Keluer said. “It’s been a positive experience for everybody — not just the students, but me as well.”  |
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