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Fashionable production Teamwork has its place on the athletic field, but the lesson often is lost in the classroom where A's and B's are the rewards of individual accomplishment.
UH student designers get a lesson
in real-world experience in designing
a fashion show from scratchBy Nadine Kam
nkam@starbulletin.comNot in Ray Sasaki's fashion show production class at the University of Hawaii, where he takes pride in delivering a real-world education. Thus came the bombshell on day one: "You need each other because everyone will get the same grade."
They took the message in stride.
"It seemed easy," said Jennifer Hasegawa, who is the production director for the annual UH Senior Fashion Show, this year themed "Clothes Minded." "If one failed, we would all fail, and I thought there was no way anyone was going to let us fail. But slowly we realized what he meant."
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Already demonstrating a mastery of the diplomatic spin, she said: "This class is full of creativity. There were so many innovative ideas.""But not enough people willing to roll up their sleeves and get the job done," said Sasaki, who takes pride in having created this "life class" after building a career in Hawaii's fashion industry, first with a design house and then founding the production company, ADR.
The curious and clothes-minded will be able to determine firsthand whether this class makes the grade when the fashion show takes place Saturday at the Sheraton-Waikiki.
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"Clothes Minded" will feature the work of six senior designers who will present their own five-piece collections, plus three collections defined by the themes "East Meets West," "Haute Couture" and "Decades," inspired by designs of the past century.The designers are Melissa Chang, with a show of whites dubbed "A White Affair"; Christele Kim, with a romantic collection called "Confession"; Thena Low, with an upbeat serving of strawberry print garments; Shani Morita, with a parade of "living dolls"; Lisa Ohara, with an ode to nature's elements; and Kanani Oliveira, with a line of black dresses embellished with tropical prints.
Garments will be available for sale after the show, with funds going toward a class trip to Europe's fashion capitals.
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There will also be a sneak preview of 22 pieces created by the junior designers.Sasaki's students already have had the opportunity to learn from the previous year's class, which set its show in a nightclub because they thought it would be easy due to minimal set requirements.
"They thought they would be selling to UH students, but students are not going to want to spend $25 to attend a fashion show. Their real audience would have been parents, people in the industry and faculty, people who would not feel comfortable in a nightclub setting, which meant they had trouble selling tickets," Sasaki said. "They really thought they were going to get an F.
"I know when something's not going to work, but I'll let them try it because that's how they learn."
In many cases, students learn the hard way that there's more to the fashion business than putting on a pretty show.
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"Some people wanted to work with the models, but because they had little budget, they had to work with students, and well, if you have 40 models, then you have to work around 40 different time schedules, so that was not fun," Sasaki said."There are other students who joined the set committee because they're artistic. But they didn't realize that it also meant going down to the room to take measurements, picking up and delivering the sets to the building and handling the logistics of moving a 12-foot scene that's not going to fit in an elevator."
In spite of all the difficulty involved in trying to stage a professional-caliber show for the first time, Hasegawa doesn't seem particularly stressed.
Having worked in a couple of retail clothing shops, she said, "In retail you always have those who lag behind. They may be working for the wrong reasons, like working for a discount or for glamour.
"We don't get paid all that much, but for me it's worth it; it's all about loving fashion. At least everyone in this class has a passion for fashion and production."
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Where: Sheraton Waikiki Maui Ballroom 'Clothes Minded'
When: 11:30 a.m. Sunday
Tickets: $25
Call: 956-2244
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