With shining lights, booming music and a packed house, models strutted down the MAC stage-turned-runway in the annual student fashion show this past weekend. Based on the theme “Shadows and Reflections,” designers looked inward to create introspective and unique pieces, with styles ranging from color-changing dresses to deconstructed knitwear.

Senior director Malia Walewski felt that this year’s concept left much more up to designer interpretations compared to last year.

“Last year it was albums, which was a cool theme, but we found it a bit confining,” Walewski said. “We wanted it [to be] more open and gave people more freedom.”

Walewski worked with designers and junior directors to keep the exhibition on track during the months-long preparation period so the team could put on the best possible show, not just for themselves and the audience but also for cinematic arts advisor Ken Rogers.

“I wanted it to be special because it was Mr. Rogers’ last year,” Walewski said. “I wanted to be fun and like a celebration.”

The fashion show serves as the cinematic arts program’s main fundraiser and allows the department to keep up-to-date equipment and continue making high-quality student films. Over the weekend’s two shows, the program earned a whopping $10,400.

Junior designer Darin Fowler also walked away with his pockets a little bit heavier after placing first with a perfect score and receiving a $500 scholarship.

“Immediately after I got off stage everyone was congratulating me, and I was very overwhelmed,” Fowler said. “I’m so grateful for the experience and could not have had more fun.”

We are pleased to present some of the most striking photos from the 2023 fashion show in this week’s Tuesday Top 10.

LIGHTS, CAMERA, FASHION: For her second McCallum fashion show, sophomore Sadie Swinney interpreted the Reflections and Shadows theme as a way to show the beauty of Light vs. Dark, two polar opposites. 

Swinney’s design for sophomore Lucy Gennrich, pictured above, showcased the light side of her collection. 

“Lucy’s look is supposed to be flowy and loose as well as white in order to convey that idea of the light side of light and dark,” Swinney said. 

For Swinney, the fashion show is not only an opportunity to get to create new designs but also a chance to see her ideas come to life on the runway.

“The process can sometimes be long and hard, but I love seeing everything come together in the end,” Swinney said. “The models are everything, and if you’re able to connect to the people you’re working with, it makes the process so fun.” 

Swinney plans to continue spreading her ideas and visions, and pursue more opportunities like the fashion show in the future

“I loved all my models this year, and I’m so happy I got to work with them,” Swinney said. “I’ve been showing my work in various fashion shows since I was 8 years old, and I love watching my models walk the runway in my designs.”

Caption by Chloe Lewcock. Photo by Maggie Mass.

LET THEM EAT CAKE: Senior Scarlett Bowman and junior Edie Birkholz walk down the runway holding two cakes in outfits designed by seniors Jaoquin Godines, Clarrisa Villarreal and Esme Moreno. After directing the fashion show last year, Birkholz decided to get involved in a new way. Modeling was nerve-racking, but with her previous knowledge of the fashion show, Birkholz was ready for the challenge. 

“I was like third to go on, so I was definitely nervous about messing up,” Birkholz said, “but I thought it was fun to be pampered and put on an outfit that I didn’t have to choose. I was initially going to change during half-time and put on a different thing, but I was like I don’t feel like doing that. I felt awesome and beautiful in Joaquin, Clarrisa and Esme’s stuff.”

Birkholz enjoyed every part of the show and the outfit she wore, but her favorite part was the hoopskirt. 

“I felt like a cake. I felt like I was the cake, and I think everyone should wear hoopskirts to school,” Birkholz said. “ I was like walking around backstage and telling everyone to move because I was taking up so much space. I don’t know, it was just awesome, and I felt fancy.”

Caption by Eliza Jensen. Photo by Morgan Eye.

BACK AGAIN: Sophomore Logan Daves strikes a pose in one of designer Aubrey Mitchell’s pieces. The white dress was a part of one of the three collections Daves modeled during last weekend’s fashion show. After participating in last year’s music album-inspired show as a model for two of her friends, Daves felt she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to walk the MAC runway once again.

“I decided to do it again because I love it so much,” Daves said.

The energy and community involved with the fashion show pulled Daves back in, and her second time around did not disappoint. 

“I honestly just love helping my friends show off their clothes,” she said. “I like the kind of rush I get from it.” 

Daves felt very little stage fright before stepping out into the spotlight on Saturday night, focusing on the adrenaline instead of what could have gone wrong. 

“I only had a little [nerves] with my first look because there were some issues with the top a few minutes before [the show],” Daves said. “But other than that I was mostly just excited.” 

Daves hopes to continue modeling for the remainder of high school and has considered branching into the design world if she finds the right artistic partner. 

“I definitely would [design] if I had someone to partner with because I know how difficult it is to make a collection on my own.” 

Caption by Francie Wilhelm. Photo by Julia Copas.

SUCCESSFUL ON ALL LEVELS: Fashion show sponsor Ken Rogers, shown here at Sunday night’s show, had nothing but praise to offer the students who participated in the 2023 edition of the fashion show. He said on Tuesday that the quality of the clothes produced reached a new standard of excellence. In the past, he said students seldom scored near a perfect score of 50, but that standard was reached this year, and several designers scored a near-perfect 49.

Furthermore, the show raised more than $10,000 for the cinematic arts program. Prior to the shows, Rogers expressed concern about the number of tickets sold, but he said the high number of walk-up ticket sales on both nights eased those worries and made the shows a fundraising success in addition to being a fashion success.

Caption by Dave Winter. Photo by Morgan Eye.

SENIOR DIRECTOR REFLECTS ON FASHION SHOW CAREER: Senior Catalina Flores models a look by senior designer and fashion show director Malia Walewski. Walewski is always surprised to walk into her first meeting with designers and find dozens of like-minded students passionate about fashion design. For her last year as a fashion show director, Walewski designed a dress that used black-and-white lining to follow the “reflections and shadows” theme. 

“I joined as a director because I really like sewing clothes, and I like the sustainability of it more so than anything,” Walewski said. “I know some people are more in it for the creative process. I liked that, and I liked that with McCallum fashion shows you have a lot of freedom. But I also think it’s cool just to know how to sew and know how to create things.”

According to her, the value of the McCallum fashion show is that it provides an outlet for fashion-focused students who don’t fit into any strand of the fine arts academy.

“I think it’s cool because of the fine arts focus we have here, but we don’t have a fashion design program,” Walewski said. “So you have all of these kids who are really talented sewers and designers but don’t have any outlet for it. And I think the fashion show is really cool because it’s totally student-led, and you have student models. You’re getting to showcase these very talented designers who don’t have access to doing anything like that in the actual school curriculum.”

For Walewski, the 2023 fashion show was all about celebrating cinematic arts teacher Ken Rogers in his last year as fashion show sponsor.

“I wanted [the fashion show] to be a place where people were enjoying it and kind of like, ‘This is cool’ and not caught up in the ‘Oh my God, the show is in a week and I haven’t made any of my looks,’” Walewski said. “I wanted it to be a fun thing and a celebration of Mr. Rogers leaving.”

Caption by Ingrid Smith. Photo by Charlie Partheymuller.

A SHADOW OF PERSONAL STYLE: Designs by junior Isa Pirkey make their runway debut during the Saturday fashion show, styling freshman model Marveyah Munoz-Tavera. Inspired by the “reflections and shadows” theme, Pirkey designed two dresses that were shadow versions of one another. Similar in silhouette, one dress was pink with white detailing and the other was entirely black. 

“I’ve always been really inspired and interested in EGL fashion, which is a genre of Japanese fashion, and I’ve always wanted to make my own,” Pirkey said. 

When Pirkey heard that the theme of the 2023 fashion show was “reflections and shadows,” so was so inspired that she pushed her worries aside and decided to participate in a McCallum fashion show for the first time.

“I’m a big fan of contrast, and so the ‘shadows’ theme was really inspiring to me,” Pirkey said. “I’ve always wanted to get more into designing my own clothes. I like wearing fun things just usually don’t have a lot of time.”

After months of work, Pirkey was both surprised and proud to find out on Sunday that she had tied for second place. She hopes to do the fashion show again next year, especially after she learned a valuable lesson.

“I learned that I should not cram sewing because my sewing machine might break,” Pirkey said. “If I have time I would love to keep designing, and I think that once I get over being so tired from all of this, I’m definitely going want to do it next year.”

Caption by Ingrid Smith. Photo by Julia Copas.

SELF-REFLECTION: Senior Matilda Scatton walks down the runway wearing an outfit designed by senior Lilli Reynolds. The outfit had dolls attached that were meant to resemble Scatton. 

“The dolls I’m wearing are myself,” Scatton said. “It ties into the theme because it is meant to be an outward reflection of myself.”

Although modeling took a lot of rehearsals, Scatton claims it all to have been worth it.

“I liked that I got to make the pieces come to life,” Scatton said. “They just felt more complete once I was able to walk in them.”

Caption by JoJo Barnard. Photo by Morgan Eye.

TAKING CENTER STAGE: In only its second live performance, the student band Facade took to the stage during intermission at this weekend’s fashion show. The trio, made up of juniors Oscar Morales (bass) and Jack Higgins (guitar) and recent grad Jack Strüb (drums) formed not long after lasts year’s show, and for the sole reason to play this gig. Following last year’s performance from a different McCallum band, Morales realized he wanted to join the scene, 

“It’s a funny story, actually,” Morales said, “We started the band to play the fashion show because I remember seeing last year Red River Trucking Co. play, and I was like ‘Hey I could start a band.’” 

The psychedelic rock-inspired group was able to earn the highly coveted spot through personal connections and performances to give them an idea of what could be in store.

“I knew the directors too, so we got in like that,” Morales said. “I was kind of just inviting the directors over. We did sort of a live audition.”

With their bassist donned in a Joss Umlas designed shirt and his mother’s pants, the trio played for the nearly full house, a drastic change from the intimate library setting of Coffeehouse.

“It was exhilarating, it was very surreal too,” Morales said. “Just to make it there and be in that moment, it felt very much like we made it: we made our goal, which made me really happy.”

Caption by Helen Martin. Photo by Morgan Eye.

SEEING DOUBLE: Seniors Stella and Ruby Davidson walk down the runway in a mirrored pose, wearing outfits designed by seniors Sophia Gonzales and Parker Mitchell.

The outfits were made identical specifically for the twins to walk down in them side by side, representing the “reflections” theme.

“It wasn’t challenging [to be synced] we just had to step on the same foot each time we walked, and that made it pretty easy from there” Stella Davidson said. “We felt confident and happy to be showing off our designers clothes!”

Caption by Elena Ulack. Photo by Charlie Partheymuller.

FOWLER REFLECTS: Junior Darin Fowler, also known as designer Knotty Girl Designs, reacts to his four crochet designs placing first at the MAC Cinematic Arts Fashion Show “Reflections and Shaddows” and winning a $500 scholarship, an achievement Fowler did not expect to meet. 

“I felt like I had done really well, and I was confident in my work, but when they mentioned that the winner got a perfect score I thought ‘there’s no way that’s me,’” Fowler said. 

His four winning pieces were inspired by self-reflection Fowler had during the pandemic. 

“The designs are kind of about my spiritual journey and finding comfort in nature, life and family and how everything on earth is just a reflection of each other.” 

After being nominated as one of the top four designers, Fowler couldn’t remember much of what happened once he got onstage. The memory leading up to it, however, was vivid. 

“I couldn’t hear anything backstage because there were so many people and then all of a sudden my friend started pushing me on stage saying, ‘They called your name,’” Fowler said. “I immediately started freaking out, and I had no idea where to go or what was happening. It might not seem like that big of a deal to some people, but it was for me.”

Fowler was nearly left speechless onstage, and after providing a brief speech thanking his friends, family and supporters, the show was concluded, and Fowler walked offstage, bouquet and scholarship in hand. 

“Immediately after I got off stage everyone was congratulating me, and I was very overwhelmed,” Fowler said. “I’m so grateful for the experience and could not have had more fun.”

Like Fowler said, the scholarship was indeed a “big deal.” With it, he hopes to attend New York University to continue his pursuit in fashion-related studies.

Caption and photo by Morgan Eye.

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