Designer Profile 2023: Parth Wokhlu

Introduction:

Hi, I’m Parth! I’m in MODA as part of the Designer Bootcamp program.

I’m still finding my personal sense of style, and haven’t been into fashion for that long, but I do like mixing from different genres, like wearing formalwear with streetwear. I don’t necessarily fit within the same genre every day. Sometimes I wear something I don’t feel like myself wearing, so it’s a process of discovery still.

I have no background in fashion design specifically, but I have played music since I was very young and consider that to be a prominent part of my life, but I don’t really think of myself as someone who is artistically inclined. I have always enjoyed consuming art but haven’t done much art-creating.

My experience with music translates pretty heavily into my experience with art. The artists that I listen to are extremely involved in the fashion scene, so a lot of my interest in them and how they build their works translates to my interest in fashion— to the point that it directly inspired my concept for the upcoming show.

The Concept:

All of my pieces are inspired by a musical album—not necessarily the cover of the album, but the sound and the values that emerge in it. The first look is Cosy Tapes by Asap Mob, a very chill and laidback trap album. That is the vibe I wanted to go with for my first piece, a mix of streetwear and casual— cozy-wear, I guess. The second album was Bloom by Beachhouse. That album sounds very dreamy and very glossy. It is a dream pop album. The entire thing is about growth, self-reflection, and growing out of adolescence. That piece is probably the most out there. One of the pant legs is cut short and then "grows" into another pant leg with a flower blooming for that dreamy look. Finally, there's Stevie Wonder’s Key of Life, an album about family and loving the people around you. The design I did, is based on my family, which is from India. I did a spin on traditional Indian menswear and combined it with traditional-western wear to create the final look.

Visually, it is not a very coherent capsule. The designs are very different, but at their heart, they are all based on albums about humanity and how we live. So, at their core, they are pretty similar but expressed in very different ways. I thought about whether this was the right idea multiple times. But since this is my first time designing, I might as well give it a shot and do it the way I want.

I would summarise my collection with the word "freestyle."

I think that is the core of the commonality between each look. I also don’t think I could pick a favorite; I love different aspects of each one. The Cosytapes is the most wearable, but I love how out there the Bloom piece is. I don’t know if anyone would wear it on the street, but I think it's cool. The third one is the most sentimental because it's based on my culture.

In terms of designer inspiration, I think every designer looks up to creators like Margiela, McQueen, and Rick Owens. But, none of them have resonated with me enough to the point of inspiration. Most of my inspiration comes from non-fashion artists, for sure.

The Process:

I wanted to join MODA for a relaxing creative endeavor, but sewing is not relaxing! It is very tedious, and I am also a perfectionist in my approach, so it’s a whole process. I do like exercising my mind in a different way than I do at school and I’m enjoying it a lot. It is very cool to make clothes on my own. It reqired more focus than I expected and more mathematical than I originally thought. It's not exactly the same math I am doing in school, but it's nice to create something with mathematical and aesthetic beauty.

DBC has given me the foundation I need for this endeavor, and Janelle, the wonderful lady teaching us, has been so awesome. As I mentioned, I had no previous knowledge of fashion or design, so being able to get behind the construction of different garments was great. The way she taught us was insightful, and I would recommend applying to anyone who wants to get into design. If you are interested in fashion design this is something you should try! It doesn’t hurt to spend some time learning something you think is worth doing. If you don’t like it now, you'll at least know how to sew and alter your pants. If you do like it, though, you can alter your pants and also make cool pants!

Through the design process, I have been exploring the relationship between the model and the design. For example, the Cosytapes-inspired look features some jeans that will be painted on by the model, Yasmin Baldo, who is an artist herself, so I’m letting her paint whatever she wants on the jeans. I think that model-designer interaction will make walking in it, will be pretty cool and demonstrate the role a model plays in both the creation and display of fashion.

The Models:

All of my models are artists and awesome people in their own right. Yasmin (Baldo) is very chill, and everything about her fits the garments' aesthetic, and she will be painting and putting down her interpretations and thoughts onto the piece. I am the designer, but I don't think that takes away the fact that whoever is wearing it is, in a way, also contributing to the design in how they want to style or wear it.

Another one of my models, her name is also Yasmin— Yasmin Ali, is also super cool. She has a great sense of fashion and is wearing the Bloom piece. She is a good friend of mine, and we have had conversations about growth and who we are as people. So, I know she fits the entire idea of that design very well. I also think she is the most likely to have the confidence to wear the piece off the runway.

Keshav (Narendra-Babu) is a fourth year. I know him a little less than the others, but from our conversations, I know he is also in touch with South-Asian culture and other South Asian people at UChicago. I met him around the time he walked for MODA. I got a general vibe that he was a dope person and, he was also good-looking, so I felt like he fit my vision.

Designer Profile 2023: Kate Shchukina

In conversation with first-time MODA fashion show designer Kate Shchukina:

Tell me a little about yourself.

Hi, I’m kate, I’m a second-year CS and psychology major, and this is my first time designing. I'm pretty excited!

What has your experience been like with the DBC program?

It’s been awesome! I came in with a big interest in fashion, and reading about and studying fashion history are some things that I have been interested in forever. But, I had no experience with practical creation—okay, my grandma taught me how to sew a button when I was six, but that doesn't count. 

Janelle, our lovely sewing instructor, was very productive and helpful, and I feel like she gave us a lot of foundation to work stuff out by ourselves—we only had six or seven four-hour sessions and that left me feeling prepared to do stuff on my own, she was great!

How would you say you grew to be a designer?

I have a checklist sort of —like a very vague one of things I wanna do that I’ll basically only have the opportunity to do in college. There’s sewing, 3D printing, and soldering in the MAAD center (I don't know why I would need it, but it’s there and you can learn it for free). I'm actually incorporating 3D printing in my design!

But, yeah, I’ve always wanted to design stuff. I’m not a particularly artsy person. I think in Math and CS there’s a certain aesthetic but beyond that, sewing felt very hobby-like to me. Presentation is just very interesting, you know? It’s creative what you choose to spend your life wearing.

Kate’s Mood Board

In what ways would you say that your surroundings contribute to your work inspirationally, creatively, and innovatively?

I think a large part of the content I consume and the things I'm interested in are pretty much directly responsible for the things I associate with fashion and inspiration. So, something I’m really interested in is mycology, the study of mushrooms. I don't know that much about it, to be honest, but I’ve been learning a lot, and a big part of that is kind of the decay as well as the interconnectedness of systems and the idea of unity—which I guess steers a bit further than just science. I think there is this sense that everything is associated with everything or linked in a way. Then there’s another part to that, which is that decay, and the idea that leaving stuff alone sometimes can be very beautiful—that's something I wanted to emulate in my designs.

Honestly, the base was just the kind of design I like, and I personally enjoy the 50s silhouette. I have a great book on the history of fashion, which really goes through the history of fashion as a concept. So, from that, I got a good sense of the general rules of fashion used during that decade.

What is the process like for you to move your creations off paper/sketch to make them tangible?

The initial sketches that I gave to MODA directors when I was applying were very vague and based on the vibe—like I wanted the audience to feel a certain way, more so than I had a vision.

 I think a big part of my creative development was picking my models and seeing them. Honestly, the night they told me I could have them, I redesigned all three of my looks because I felt like the people that were going to be wearing them all had these distinct personalities. It was interesting because not only their physical appearances but, the way they walked and carried themselves felt like it gave personality to the looks. Then I had a lot of fancy ideas about my looks, and those got simpler when I learned to sew. The other tough thing was finding patterns, you know? You're coming up with your own stuff, so it's hard to find things that are similar to alter, and I’ve been sewing for a little bit over a month so it’s still scary to alter stuff. But it's really fun and I find sewing to be very meditative. I just really enjoyed the process, and I think a lot of stuff comes up as I'm sewing, like I think, “Oh, this would be cool”, and then I show my models. 

So you talked a bit about how your models influence your looks. But how would you say you want your clothes to make your models and audience feel?

With the models, I firmly believe that if a person (this isn’t even about the runway) doesn't like the clothes that they are wearing, the clothes will look terrible on them. Even if they're the most beautiful thing in the world, it just won't work out!  I think it’s very sad in the Haute Couture fashion scene how models are seen as hangers, and I think that's part of why people are so disillusioned with modern high fashion. So, I think the key thing I wanted when I reached out to my models was that they liked what they were wearing. From the start, I said “if you hate it completely, I totally understand,” but also, I was open to reworking. I asked them what body parts they wanted to accentuate and what it was they wanted to highlight.

That’s very sweet of you.

Well... I don't even think it's like a sweet nice person thing. I think it’s important to–

Listen to your models.

Yeah! So, I got some feedback which was really nice. They asked about color choices, and I was like “I was thinking this, but what do you think would look good on you?” Another thing is that I feel like you know yourself better and the models have different skin tones and different hair than me, so I think they know what works for them better than I do. Even though I'm the one with the “vision.” If you don't listen to that I think it can feel kind of inauthentic.

Then in terms of the audience, that's a lot more intimidating to me because my experience is mostly with personal fashion, in which case I don't really care what people think. Within reason. But, for this, I think I want a sense of confusion. I think there is a contrast between things that are conventionally beautiful and things that are somewhat gross, which I think is quite hard to illicit, and I'm honestly still not sure if I'm doing it right. But, that's ideally what I would want. You know beauty, not just in terms of the body, but aesthetics are so subjective and I think it's very cool when people confront that. Like “is this beautiful?” even though it's something I've never seen before.

Besides your models, who do you envision wearing your pieces?

I don't think they're very wearable outside of the runway *laughs* if I'm honest. I feel like you could possibly integrate them into daily life. I know that when there's an economic recession, fashion goes kind of crazy. So, maybe in five years, these we’ll be the most average looks ever. But, fashion is shifting so fast that I can't really say. As of today, though, I don't know if I would convince someone to wear them out and about.

If you were to choose some words to summarize your collection, what would they be?

Decrepit—

Ooh, that’s a good word.

How many words am I allowed to choose?

Let’s cap it at three.

Okay, so we’ve got decrepit, we’ve got… circular? And I don’t know if it's too big-headed to say... confrontational?

No, not at all.

That's what I would aim for. I'm not going to lie, I’m like halfway done, so I don't even know what it’s gonna turn out like yet. But that's how I imagine it.

What exactly do you want to confront?

The idea of solid beauty 'cause, I think most people, at this point, understand that there are cycles in terms of what is attractive—like in terms of bodies, fashion silhouettes, and all that jazz. But I think there’s more to it.  It's looser than a lot of people think.  As I said with the recession comment, a lot of the things we're seeing are confrontational. I think a really good example is people shaving off their eyebrows, especially after coming from the thick full-brows trend—not going for something that is subtle or trying to break apart from the norms— to me, that is confrontational.

What will be the most fulfilling part of seeing your clothes move down the hallway?

I want to see the models feel comfortable and enjoy what they are wearing; I think that’s honestly the thing I'm most nervous about. I went to the fashion show last year, and I don't think I saw anything I disliked, but I think the most impactful and important experience is that of the models; so, I hope people like how they look.

Do you have any ending lines or anything?

I would like to say that if people are curious about fashion and design and are interested in applying to DBC, I really want to encourage it! It’s very gradual; they really walk you through it. Also, if you're just interested in fashion in general, there’s a whole MODA ecosystem to find something. It's pretty awesome!

Designer Profile 2023: Meghane Saidenberg

In light of the upcoming MODA student fashion show, I interviewed designer and friend Meghane Saidenberg to uncover a bit of the process and inspiration behind her work. Meghane is a second year at the college studying data science, hopefully minoring in computational neuroscience and/or statistics. She’s involved with research on campus surrounding data science. This is her first time designing for MODA.

Meghane’s moodboard.

If you were presenting your line to an audience what would you say? What are your inspirations and motivations? What does the line mean to you?

I view the pieces that I will be presenting at MODA as part of a larger collection; this is a capsule collection focusing on different permutations of light. For example, I have a dress that lights up in dark ambient environments and I’m combining my different technical skill sets in sewing and coding. I had to learn a lot about physical hardware that I’m not used to doing in order to achieve that. For that, I took inspiration from the NASA James Webb images that were released. I have another dress inspired by a mirrorball. Also, I made two pieces inspired by impressionism and how the artist’s perspective became the most important thing when creating a piece of art. But eventually it went down the train of being inspired by ink blot tests and my love for exploring street art in how to make something really cool out of a different structure. My last outfit is inspired by lighting and the event of being struck by lightning. It leaves a scar that appears to have electrified your veins and brought them to the surface. With this, I wanted to explore light as something traumatic. A different angle to light.

How did you start designing? Is this your first time creating a line of works?

This is my first time actually sitting down and creating a physical collection. But, I’ve loved fashion design since I can remember. In middle school, I used to carry around a sketchbook that had a collection of dotted outlines of women to sketch designs. I would just sit down and sketch during my break times; I got really into fashion illustrations and took a lot of time learning how to render fabrics with pen onto the paper properly. I also participated in school fashion shows for charity. Those were such surreal experiences to be able to see your work: all the audience sees is the finished product but you know the amount of work that gets put into it. But designing for MODA is the first time where multiple of my designs are walking down the runway.

How did material influence your final pieces?

I am very driven by exploring textiles and trying to create textiles. In one of the pieces I took muslin (lightweight cotton cloth in a plain weave) and tried to manipulate the textile by applying layers of paint and spray paint. For the James Webb dress, I had one of the images printed on fabric in order to make the skirt stay true to my inspiration, but also provide a base in order to layer on top of the circuitry with the lights in order to like to have that interplay there. I see myself gravitating towards fashion technology, which is a subset of fashion design that is really focused on textiles and materials. When you're designing you know, even the lightning dress, I'm taking different materials and manipulating them such that it creates the shape that I want it to. I think that my materials have definitely played a rather central role in my design process. Yeah, very central.

What drew you to fashion technology?

Meghane working on her circuited dress.

I love fashion design, but I'm also a data and computer scientist. And it's really important to me that I don't view them as two different parts of my brain, but something that's very interlinked. I think that both of them are very creative endeavors. This love I have of data and computer science extends to technology generally. I try to apply this scientific, technical background to design, because I think that fashion design is ultimately something that is very scientific. You want to achieve a certain look, a certain effect on the runway; fashion is something that's ultimately your performance and you want it to have a certain effect. So, I want to use all the tools at my disposal in order to achieve that. It's putting together the pieces to make the effect. Which is important.

What was your favorite part in creating the designs?

During the process, two things: one was just kind of like watching my designs evolve as I was making the outfits. There are certain things about what I've made that I didn't plan on initially, that just kind of while I was making the office, I was like, Oh, this is a good idea. I'll change direction. I generally really enjoy pivoting and exploring new ideas as I go along. And so having that freedom to do that has been very, very cool. And two: a smaller moment in the process was with the chainmail when I've been cutting up panels of chainmail. My mom and my sister thought the texture of it was so satisfying. So I left two squares with them before coming back to Chicago. It was a cool detail that everyone could appreciate the texture of the dress. Also, my cat just loves to go wherever I go. And wherever I was working he would just sit on whatever fabric I was working on.

Do you have any tips or suggestions for those looking to begin designing clothes?

Generally, in design don't think about what you think other people would want necessarily, but design things that you yourself would want to wear or see walking down the streets. Design is ultimately just supposed to be fun. Find a degree of enjoyment.

Anything else you would like to add or say about your portion of the show or the clothes themselves?

I'm super excited for the show. I think it's gonna be a really fun experience!