The scene: Fashion may be the main event at the Otis College of Art + Design scholarship benefit gala, but the record $1.1 million raised at this year’s annual event provides scholarships for Otis students of all artistic disciplines. Approximately 900 gala attendees were reminded of this by animation student Steven McClellan, who gave thanks on behalf of all the students who, like him, have benefited from scholarships.

In attendance were a number of fashion tastemakers, including Liz Goldwyn, Mr. Blackwell, Rita Watnick of Lily et Cie, John Martens of Neiman Marcus, Bob Hurley, Sally Frame Kasaks of Pacific Sunwear, designers Laura and Kate Mulleavy of Rodarte, Lloyd Klein, Eduardo Lucero, Kevan Hall, and Andrae Gonzalo of “Project Runway.”

This year’s “Otis Creative Vision Award” recipients infused the night with a slice of Hollywood. Barry M. Meyer, chairman and chief executive officer of Warner Bros. Entertainment, presented the award to Anne Globe, head of worldwide marketing and consumer products for DreamWorks Animation, and Brad Globe, president of Warner Bros. worldwide consumer products.

“I was thinking about tonight and a look back at all the years I have been in this business. I realized how important it is to have a mentor,” Brad Globe said. Globe’s mentor, Steven Spielberg, along with other showbiz names such as Jeffrey Katzenberg and Jack Black, congratulated the industry couple in a video.

The fashion show highlighted junior and senior student designs created under the leadership of mentors, who posed a challenge for students to solve. Junior-class mentors included Abercrombie & Fitch; Otis alumnus Rod Beattie for La Blanca; Lynne Koplin and Joey Rodolfo for Tommy Bahama; Marcus Brown for Nordstrom; Roger Wyett, Todd Van Horne and Devon Burt for Nike; and Melanie Owen for Roxy.

The senior-class mentors raised the showmanship bar through interesting design criteria. Ame Austin Max for Max Studio with Cotton Inc. challenged students to reinterpret the classic white shirt by draping fabric before sketching. Sheer white woven fabric was manipulated into a bustle of rosettes on one shirt and a waterfall of fabric flowing down from the shoulder on another blouse.

Trina Turk’s students designed “from dusk ’til dawn” cocktail dresses, which featured students’ original photos of the Los Angeles skyline. The imagery was printed onto fabric by Corona, Calif.–based sublimation printer AVID Ink. The winning coat, which was created by Kristen Friedlander, opened up to reveal a printed lining that matched the bubble dress underneath. Bridal and special-occasion designer Monique Lhuillier directed students to create cocktail and eveningwear inspired by a rose. Connie Tao’s winning design featured a close-fitting crimson jacket and a skirt composed of layered petals in fabrics with different textures.

Senior Westley Austin took home two awards: one from mentor John Varvatos for Converse for his men’s peacoat ensemble and another from mentor Johnson Hartig for Libertine for his strapless cocktail dress, which was a powder puff of ruffles.

The show closed with student designs under the mentorship of Ivy Ross for Disney. Seniors reinterpreted the dressing of traditional Disney characters into modern gowns that were plentiful in Technicolor whimsy. The characters included both princesses and villainesses such as Alice in Wonderland, the Queen of Hearts, Snow White, Cinderella, Belle from “Beauty and the Beast,” Cruella De Vil from “101 Dalmatians,” Ursula and Ariel from “The Little Mermaid,” Pocahontas, Jasmine from “Aladdin,” and Mulan.  —Rhea Cortado