Harper Fashion Students "Go Green" for Annual Event

At the height of a season where fashion flourishes, students of the Harper College fashion design program are thinking of two things: going “green” and recycling.

This past year, Harper’s fashion students have been busy designing garments to be exhibited this Friday, May 13 at Steppin’ Out 2011, the annual fashion event which showcases student designs of various genres.

“Each year, we try to choose a theme relevant to the time. This year, the cultural climate led us to choose the 1920s and 1930s as inspiration,” Cheryl Turnauer, associate professor and coordinator of the Fashion Design & Merchandising program at Harper College, said.

Turnauer said the Steppin’ Out 2011 team also was led to think in terms of designing “green.”

“We must recognize that everything around us is of value, and we must determine how to reveal the value, in this case of old worn, outdated clothes,” Turnauer said.

In Turnauer’s Fashion Arts course this semester at Harper, students focused on the trend of “Community.”

“This is about the need for us to work with the people and resources around us,” Turnauer said. “The students were told to either shop their closets or go to Good Will and purchase garments, which they would use to create a dress.”

Interestingly enough, this concept of “repurposing,” as Turnauer says, fashion materials is not new. More often, young adults are wearing clothing made to look vintage. Manufacturers are putting out products with a “worn” appeal, be they thinner, “stoned” t-shirts or pre-torn jeans and trousers.

This year's high-caliber Steppin’ Out show will be presented as a sort of exhibition in the Dining Room of the Wojcik Conference Center at Harper College. Models will be displayed upon pedestals, a presentation style that deviates from the traditional runway style of shows past.

The annual show, celebrating more than 40 years in circulation, is a culmination of a full year’s worth of student work.

“[Steppin’ Out] is an event where students can illustrate their talents, and come to recognize what’s involved in producing a fashion show,” Turnauer said.

The format of the show is different this year in that the audience can interface with models and designers, giving students the opportunity to network with potential buyers. With this format, audience members also have more time to browse garments.

“The garments are phenomenal,” Turnauer said, of a student-designed selection that spans sportwear, outerwear, formalwear, business attire, knitwear and more.

Steppin’ Out’s participating fashion and merchandising students also are encouraged to compete at the Fashion Group International seminar in November, 2011. There, students are exposed to fashion professionals, and are able to sell garments they displayed at this year’s Harper College fashion show.

Turnauer, who is always busy before the spring shows, said she is pleased about the fashion program’s success since she began teaching at Harper in the mid-eighties.

“We’ve been honing our skills [every year],” Turnauer said. “[This is] a program that only gets stronger.”

Support Harper’s fashion students this Friday by purchasing tickets to Steppin’ Out 2011. The show begins at 7 p.m., and is held at the Wojcik Conference Center; 1200 W. Algonquin Rd. Advance ticket purchases ($25) only. Purchase online or call Harper Box Office at 847.925.6100.