Style Institute Students Win Design Prizes
Opulence describes the work by the 10 advanced-level students at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising who showed their collections Thursday afternoon. And Marilyn Quayle (wife of the vice president) was the name most often repeated during the event, because several of the students had styled inaugural outfits for her as well as her daughter, Corrine, last January.
Student Denise Ervin, who designed an inaugural ball gown for Mrs. Quayle, evoked oohs and ahs from the audience with her collection of romantic, sometimes Elizabethan-like evening wear.
Ervin won the Fred Hayman Award for the collection showing “the greatest professional salability, workmanship and creativity.” She also picked up the Jakob Schlaepfer Scholarship, which included $9,060 in cash and about $5,000 worth of material for her designs.
Commercial Appeal
Huan Nguyen, winner of the greatest-commercial-potential award, used gabardine and silk for his wide-legged pants and tunic tops in khakis, browns and grays with subtle plaids.
“My color palette always works with my designs and never goes out of style,” Nguyen said.
Patricia Wilson, another costume designer, offered wide bell-bottoms and robe jackets that had a Mongolian look. For her collection, she mixed rayons with wools, cottons and silks.
EunHae Kim, who designs for a junior sportswear house, showed short jackets and capes in a combination of brown and turquoise. Danielle Sausedo’s humorous Mad Hatter designs used bold red stripes, full skirts and Edwardian top coats.
Winner for Creativity
Winning for originality and creativity, Mia Godinez showed both wide-legged pants and flamenco bell-bottoms and halter tops.
Allison Miller, who designed the outfit Corrine Quayle wore at her father’s inauguration, received the Rick Pallack Award that goes to the student “who produces garments on a highly professional level and exhibits a thorough understanding of merchandising a collection for his or her customer.”
Her children’s designs carried the extravagant theme of the show well, using cotton velveteen, poplin and corduroy in jackets and pants.
Classic Flannels
Students Eve Adams and Miki Amaya both showed evening wear. Adams’ designs were simple and classic in wool flannel, wool crepe and jeweled lace. “There’s always room for another item in a woman’s wardrobe,” Adams said.
Amaya’s outfits went the opposite direction, using huge silk flowers on shoulders, bust and bustle and, on another, a shower of bows. Amaya uses “femininity” to describe her design philosophy.
Winning both the Beverly Hills Silks & Woolens and Fabrication & Coloration awards was Daniel Caudill. Another one of Marilyn Quayle’s student designers, Caudill showed black coats with rainbow linings that swept the runway. Another oversize leopard print coat was notable for its draping.
Winning scholarships but not showing clothes were Angel Romero, Loretta Pickering, Jill Marie Schleisman, John Ware and Fransisco Yepo.
Scholarship Fund-Raiser
The annual FIDM show, which also serves as a fund-raiser for the school’s scholarship program, honored the Broadway with the seventh annual California Fashion First Award. Mayor Tom Bradley presented the award to Broadway Southern California Chairman H. Michael Hecht. The award goes to a major Southern California retailer each year.
Past winners include Bullock’s, May Co. and Robinson’s. Executives of many of the companies were in attendance.
FIDM’s connection to the fashion industry is strong, with more than 90% of its eligible students getting jobs in their fields upon graduation, said Gerry Bremer, executive director of public relations.
In addition to the Los Angeles campus, FIDM has campuses in San Francisco, San Diego, Orange County and Sherman Oaks. Founded in 1969, it now has more than 4,000 full-time students.
