Vince—Dominique Gardilac (left), Madison Bigger (center) and Aerial Woodman (right) | Photo by Sarah Galonka/Otis College of Art and Design Sarah M Golonka | smg photography
STUDENT DESIGNERS
Otis Graduating Student Designers Create Runway Looks Under Mentor Leadership
Otis College of Art and Design hosted a showcase for junior- and senior-year fashion students during the school’s O-Launch exhibition weekend at the Westchester, Los Angeles, campus. The event, titled “Activate,” celebrated works that the pupils created through mentorship with industry leaders.
Seniors developed tailored pieces and eveningwear targeting the luxury consumer for the May 16 event. They also developed a sustainability project, which was a collaboration with FRAME and the Salvation Army and required students to reflect the luxury clothing brand’s style using upcycled pieces from the charity. Otis highlighted the influence of AI and upcycling for this year’s showcase.
“Rather than viewing AI as a replacement for creativity, we see it as a tool that can accelerate ideation, visualization, storytelling and communication while allowing students to remain grounded in craftsmanship, critical thinking and design integrity,” said Jill Zeleznik, chair of fashion design at Otis. “Similarly, upcycling challenges students to rethink value, waste and resourcefulness. The fashion industry is facing increasing pressure to address sustainability, and we believe designers must be trained to create within real-world constraints.”
Senior-class design mentors included the return of David Meister to the program, who mentored Carlos Arias, Ava Moss and Ryan Jackson. Greg Myler, senior vice president of design at St. John, mentored Taylor Redd, Sarah Tuon and Mina Wang. Vince’s director of women’s design in hard wovens, Arthur Thammavong—an Otis 2014 BFA Fashion Design alum—mentored Dominique Gardilac, Madison Bigger, Aerial Woodman, Kash Jain, Janet Liu, Luna Yuan, Amelie Pierre and Kylie Norton. Tim McGrath, senior art director with Activision—a returning mentor— mentored Kimmy Yim, Luna Yan, Kyle Norton, Ava Moss, Amelie Pierre and Madison Bigger. Marcus Clayton and Leonardo Lawson mentored Clarke Lewis, Kash Jain, Carolyn Oh, Dominique Gardilac, Sarah Toun and Taylor Redd for FIFA 1904. The FRAME x Salvation Army project was supervised by mentors Ida Lamberton, head of women’s ready-to-wear at FRAME; Bianca Nemtoc, regional donations coordinator with the Salvation Army; and Atticus Firey, director of donations development at the Salvation Army. They mentored seniors Anavictoria Pancho and Eddie Borba.
