Haute couture, Burbank-style
Jackson Bell
Woodbury fashion design students will display their work at Woodbury
University’s 39th annual fashion show, “Metropolo: A Mid-Century
Night’s Dream.”
Sunday’s show at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles will
begin with a cocktail and dinner reception, followed by the catwalk
presentation, which will feature the works of 30 students.
“We have a lot of people who will come and see the show, and it’s
wonderful exposure for people to see what the students are doing,”
said Penny Collins, chairwoman of the university’s fashion
department. “It’s a debut for the students.”
Amber Benson, who plays Tara on the TV show “Buffy the Vampire
Slayer,” will emcee the event. Coty Award-winning designer Gustave
Tassell, whose works are on display in Paris’ Louvre art museum, will
receive the Woodbury Design Award. Hutton Wilkinson and the late Tony
Duquette will also be honored with the Woodbury Style Award for their
collaboration in interior design, jewelry, sculpture and painting.
The theme of the fashion show will represent the optimistic
attitude and audacity of architecture and design found in Los Angeles
after World War II, Collins said.
So far, the event has raised $4,000 more than the university’s
fund-raising goal of $76,000, surpassing revenue from last year’s
show by 15%, said Claudia Campos, the show’s executive producer and a
university alumni relations officer.
“This kind of fund-raising is unusual in this year of reduced
charity giving,” she said.