Fashion Schau 10:(UP)ROOTED

The annual Fashion Schau finds new roots after a two-year absence.

Models pose backstage at Fashion Schau 10

Fashion Schau 10:(UP)ROOTED

“You seem pretty calm.”

“I am not,” replied SERVitecture President Blythe Atzbach, hours before the runway would regale the enthusiastic crowd with deconstructed dress codes of DIY student designer wear at Fashion Schau 10:(UP)ROOT.

Acknowledging the challenge of rerooting the iconic Schau after a two-year absence due to COVID-19, Atzbach may not have been calm, but she was aspirational: “I am actually most excited that the Schau will be enjoyed by so many new people who have never seen the show before.”

By night’s end, the 2022 Fashion Schau topped the all-time gate by raising $3,000 for Dress for Success Columbus, the local chapter of a national non-profit organization that empowers women to achieve economic independence by providing a network of support, professional attire, and career development tools.

“Our theme this year, “(UP)ROOT,” attempts a positive spin on being displaced with a view toward rebirth and repurpose,” said Atzbach. Landing just days after the first of spring, the Schau’s set pieces of trellised flowers blooming into pink and white referenced this mood of renewal.

More than in any past year, the Schau’s panache punches of handcrafted fashion offered fertile ground for interpretations of upcycling, gender fluidity, and design hierarchies in its No Wallflowers Allowed exuberances of glam and swagger.     

With student designers executing a tightrope-thin balance between savoir-faire fashion and chic iconoclasm, this edition of the Fashion Schau was a decided return to form.

Models pose backstage at Fashion Schau 10
Designer: Liliana Yocum; Models: Luke Ciminillo Delamotte, Kyle Croucher, Victoria Miller, Trecia Cintrón, Tyler Simon Johnson, Spencer Eget, Tom Liu, Joyce Zhang, Liliana Yocum

In layered-frayed ensembles, Designer Liliana Yocum, a 4th-year architecture student, created a rogue-aesthetic riff befitting a Star Wars cantina of deep-space denizens. Her nine models (Yocum included) amped up a steely insouciance in their catwalk train that ended with a collective model pile-up—a nod to Yocum’s vintage closet descending into disarray.

Gabe Castillo modeling Brett Wedding's design
Designer: Brett Wedding; Model: Gabe Castillo

Challenging norms of corporate masculinity, Brett Wedding designed a sunflower-accessorized shirt-and-shorts-and-jacket ensemble that evoked high summer vibes in revisionist “I didn’t get the memo” corporate formalwear.

A model poses for the crowd at Fashion Schau 10
Designers: Christian Heidenreich, Lucy Stiebel, and Michael Vedovato; Model: Michael Vedovato

The trio design team of Christian Heidenreich, Michael Vedovato, and Lucy Stiebel enacted a couture countermeasure when their model emphatically shed himself of his stifling corporate habiliments to reveal an under-garmented liberation of kitschy casual-wear and individuality.

Model poses in front of crowd at Fashion Schau 10
Designer: Taylor Flanagan; Model: Taylor Flanagan

Occupying the allegorical space of a Renaissance garden, Taylor Flanagan constructed a skirt of flowing vines—embellished with 200 chipboard “floral” spheres—whose twirl on the runway stand was reminiscent of a whirling maypole.

Taylor Wedding wearing Maci Shoffstall's design
Designer: Maci Shoffstall; Models: Maci Shoffstall, Taylor Wedding

Extending with elegance the flower-power trope, Maci Shoffstall’s green tulle dress fell in verdant grassland slopes of red and pink and white carnations—300 tiny tours de force of sewn-into-fabric devotion.

Model poses in Gina Silvestri's designs
Model poses in front of a crowd in one of Liliana Yocum's designs
A model poses in Liliana Yocum's design in front of the crowd at the Fashion Schau
Gabe Castillo modeling Brett Wedding's design
Taylor Wedding wearing Maci Shoffstall's design
Maci Shoffstall poses on a pedestal for Fashion Schau 10
Model poses on platform at Fashion Schau 10
Models pose backstage at Fashion Schau 10
Model poses in front of crowd at Fashion Schau 10
A model poses for the crowd at Fashion Schau 10
Ziyun Zhu on a pedestal during Fashion Schau 10
Model in Daniel Foley's design at Fashion Schau 10

“We were just blown away by the range of designs and overall creativity,” said ten-time juror and Professor of Architecture Jacquelyn Gargus when awarding the evening’s winning designs. “The fashion this year may have been the most varied we’ve ever seen, and the level of choreography was off the charts.”

Announcing Liliana Yocum and crew as the winner of the Schau’s highest honor, the Golden T-Square, Gargus said: “The colors, the textures, the transformation of the ordinary into something extraordinary through layering and patterns was amazing in this year’s winning design collective.”

Housed in the Knowlton School, SERVitecture is a student organization that promotes volunteerism among Ohio State students, regardless of academic major.

Special support for this event was provided by Winans Chocolates + Coffees and Schooley Caldwell.

Golden T-Square
Designer: Liliana Yocum
Models: Luke Ciminillo Delamotte, Kyle Croucher, Victoria Miller, Trecia Cintrón, Tyler Simon Johnson, Spencer Eget, Tom Liu, Joyce Zhang, Liliana Yocum

Silver T-Square
Designer: Keona Hibbard
Model: Marlee Franklin

Bronze T-Square
Designer: Daniel Foley
Model: Jack Ryan

People’s Choice Award
Designers: Christian Heidenreich, Michael Vedovato, and Lucy Stiebel
Model: Michael Vedovato

SERVitecture Team

Blythe Atzbach, President
Lindsay James, Communications

Fashion Schau 10 Committee

Ellie Angle
Samy Grant
Jacob Kwon
Katie Oberlin
Karlie Rainer
Brett Wedding

Faculty Jury

Jackie Gargus
Marta Nowak
Curtis Roth
Karla Trott