"Over the Top" Art Institute Senior Fashion Show

The Art Institute of Houston’s senior class showcased their capsule collections during a high energy “Over the Top” fashion event at Proof Rooftop Lounge. The show featured designers: Yoselin Hernandez, Phuong Thao Le, Nhi Nguyen and Cheryl Vick.

Yoselin Hernandez was the only designer who did menswear. She was inspired by contemporary and urban concepts that were mixed with a business-casual vibe. Simple tees with skull prints paired with clean, contemporary blazers and pants created a unique twist to everyday, run-of-the-mill menswear. Check out Yoselin’s INSTAGRAM.

Phuong Thao Le presented her collection- “The Debut of Belle.” Belle is the nickname that her Grandmother gave her when she was born. ‘Belle’ is also French for ‘beautiful’ and her Grandmother wanted her to own the beauty inside and out. Phuong further explains, “I wanted it to present the beauty of the women. The inspiration for this collection was the combination of the tradition and the modern. Because I was born and grew up in Vietnam, the tradition and the culture are always a part of my life. Specially, the traditional dress gave me so much inspired. I think a woman look her best when she’s in that dress. So i took that look and made it in modern way, so everyone can wear it. I wanted to bring out the elegance and the feminineness of the woman.One of the special things about my collection is the fabric. Most of the fabrics that I used are natural fibers such as: silk charmeuse, silk organza, and linen. When I went to LA to search for the fabric, I found them in several stores in fashion district. After that, i sent my fabric to The company in Vietnam to get them pleated. It was a long process and took few weeks to get it done. But at the end, I feel so happy that the fabric came out perfectly the way I wanted to be. The second thing about this collection that I wanted people to know that all the beading work was done by hand because I wanted the embroidery and the beads in just some placements. Some little things bring the uniqueness to my collection.” Bright orange contrasted with neutral gray and white. I thought the pleating was a delightful touch to the Asian-inspired silhouettes. I loved the flared jumpsuit and show-stopping headpiece during the finale.

Nhi Nguyen, also of Vietnamese descent, left home at seventeen and traveled to America to pursue her career in fashion. She recently won 3rd place during the “Fashion My Future 2015” conference. Nhi Nguyen’s collection was inspired by geometric forms and futuristic elements, which she feels represent the strong and independent image of a woman. She also featured the three garments that were featured in “Fashion My Future 2015.” I loved her use of shapes, lines, cut-outs and structure.

The last designer of the evening was Cheryl Vick, who took a nod to her Nordic roots that leaned toward the Valkyrie. She originally wanted to use red fabric, but since that didn’t work out too well, she opted for the raspberry silk dupioni. Thus her ‘hot pink and black collection’ was born. Nordic turned ‘Glam Rock’ with black leather and vinyl. “I wanted to use a vibrant color as the finale piece and came up with a head to toe hot pink two piece ball gown. The top is fuchsia cow hide and the bottom raspberry silk dupioni. I chose Emileigh Meloy- who is 6’2 to wear the dress. She made the dress come to life on the runway, along with the wind and I felt like it was a perfect end to our show,” Cheryl explained. Her dresses seems to have also taken on a “hidden silhouette” so to speak, as it showed in either the trim or contrasting fabric. Of course, my favorite was definitely the finale dress because apparently I love anything with drama! Stay tuned for the launch for her website.

The students put on a wonderful show and I’m excited to see what they do next! Congratulations (now) graduates!