From the rack to the runway, ’70s Bohemian fashion is making a comeback today at the HiFashion Studios show.
HiFashion Studios is a student fashion organization that has been putting on shows for the last two years. Anyone in need of an instant fashion fix can attend the show at 7 p.m. tonight in Emerson Suites.
Junior Pedro Maldonado, co-executive producer of HiFashion Studios, said he expects this year’s show to include more elements than shows from previous years.
“Last year, we only had the runway and the chairs,” he said. “But this time, we plan on changing the whole room, transforming everything and bringing everyone into a tent like you would find in fashion week.”
Junior Alicia Gallen, co-editor in chief of the new HiFashion Studios Magazine, said the night’s theme is inspired by an era that has been revitalized in recent fashion trends.
“We’re taking it back to the ’70s, kind of that earthy-bohemian but still luxurious style, chic hippy,” Gallen said.
Last year, the HiFashion Studios show had a $5 entrance fee. This year, the show will be free.
Members of HiFashion Studios also plan on holding a show in the spring, which features outfits the students have designed themselves. The clothes in the upcoming show will be borrowed from upscale stores on The Commons, Syracuse and other surrounding areas.
This year the studio is expanding and will, for the first time ever, produce the HiFashion Studios Magazine.
Gallen and junior Annisa Richmond had dreams of bringing a fashion magazine to the college since their freshman year after working on advertising and wardrobe for the 2009 HiFashion show.
“The organization focuses on aspects of the fashion industry regardless of what your major is,” Richmond said. “So we wanted to do a magazine that focused on the unique fashion take that Ithaca College students have and bringing Ithaca students fashion and high fashion together.”
Producing a magazine was a bigger task than the two co-editors in chief had anticipated, Gallen said. They tried their sophomore year, but the plan fell through.
“We didn’t have the manpower, and before we knew it, the show was here,” she said. “We needed to do all hands on deck for the fashion show. We had to put the magazine on pause.”
Starting this year, after much collaboration and many auditions for writers and photographers, members are finally going to get the chance to put their idea into print. The HiFashion Studios Magazine will feature photo spreads, clothing trends from throughout the fall semester, and a section about the show, including photos from the runway and event coverage.
Richmond said the college is the perfect place for a fashion magazine.
“So many people on our campus are interested in fashion, whether it’s the fact they actually follow fashion trends or they care what they look like in the morning,” she said. “I feel like a lot of people on campus will be interested in what we have to say. We’re really excited for people to see it.”
Gallen said people too often do not realize the important role fashion plays.
“It’s a way to say how you are feeling and what your personality is like without actually having to speak,” Gallen said. “I feel like a lot of people wear T-shirts, which is fine. I wear T-shirts too. But then they think fashion doesn’t apply to them. The people who work in fashion know it applies to everyone, people just don’t know it.”
Being in the fashion world is hectic, Richmond said, which makes it challenging to produce a fashion magazine.
“It’s a lot of organization,” Richmond said. “It’s a lot of trying to figure out how to get to the same place at the same time to actually get things done. It’s a lot of our lives right now.”
The release date for the first issue of HiFashion Studios Magazine is tentative. The producers expect it to come out in the next couple months. Currently they are in the process of collecting first drafts of articles from writers, planning the design, speaking to local businesses and, as always, following trends.