Pittsburgh style experts helped student designers fashion their looks.
Mentors from Style412, an organization that provides resources for fashion industry professionals, worked with 16 designers for Carnegie Mellon University’s student-run fashion show “Lunar Gala 2020: Yesterday.”
The annual runway event is from 8-11 p.m. Saturday at the Jared L. Cohon University Center on the Oakland campus. They expect over 1,000 guests.
This is the third year for the mentoring program.
“Style412 will continue to provide the best fashion and sewing talent that our community has to offer, continuing to create a deep pool of resources for all students to draw from,” said Suzanne Mauro, of Shadyside, Style412’s education partnership coordinator.
Mentor Richard Parsakian has owned Eons Fashion Antique in Shadyside for 34 years. He said he was excited to see how the students came up with their themes and implemented designs.
“Their presentation books were clear and at a high professional level,” said Parsakian. “They were thinking of new ways to define the built world.”
Designers encompass everything from architecture to computers to biological sciences.
“It’s an event where all of the majors come together,” said Michael Powell, an architecture major who is co-producing the show with Ugne Ziausyte.
Ziausyte is studying biological sciences and research media.
“It’s part of the school’s tradition,” said Ziausyte. “Each designer’s voice comes through in the show. They show resiliency and how to adapt.”
According to the Lunar Gala Instagram, the theme “Yesterday” is described as defining a current moment as a liminal space constantly in tension between the past and future. The structures of yesterday become outdated, deteriorating as we move toward tomorrow.
Organizers drew inspiration from Pittsburgh’s industrial history.
Design coordinator Sebastian Carpenter, a computer science and design major, said the mentors critiqued designs and offered advice on how to finish a garment. Design coordinator Vincent DeRienzo, an architecture major, said the fashion show is a wonderful diversion from the everyday stress of classes.
“We’ve become like family,” he said. “It is up to us to carry the torch and keep the show going.”
They started a crowd funding page to support the designers.
Tickets are $25-$60.
