Miami is giving birth to more fashion design talent than most people would ever realize. I expected to see some exciting fashions at the annual show of work by students, emerging Miami fashion designers, at the Miami International University of Art & Design, but was frankly blown away by what I saw. The show featured over 70 garments for women and men designed by seniors and other talented students who were chosen to exhibit based on their skill and creativity.
Fashions included everything from casual to day dresses and evening wear. Designers came from a veritable United Nations — from Denmark and Vietnam to Venezuela — and often their cultural influences informed their designs. Even when designs weren’t particularly my taste, I couldn’t help but enjoy the creativity, originality and beautiful fabrics. The production itself, done by the Director and staff was exciting, high energy, and very professional. The professional models were unusually attractive, enjoyed what they were doing, and often seemed to almost dance down the runway setup in the Moore building.
Shoes were incredibly attractive as well (students were responsible for the shoes along with styling of each garment). Total eye candy, including the guys, some of whom came out wearing tuxedo pants and barechested. The design themes of the night were slits, multi layering of body suits with diaphanous fabrics often beaded, vivid colors, and assymetrical hemlines. Check out the photo gallery for my favorite designs of the evening. And BTW, unfortunately they’re not for sale as the students have to keep them to present in their portfolio at graduation. Don’t miss it next year. They sell tickets to the public though sell out quickly.
